Author: Amy Orciari Herman
The rate of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among pregnant women at delivery increased from 0.8 to 4.1 per 1000 deliveries from 2000 to 2015, according to an analysis of national healthcare data in MMWR.
HCV rates were highest among women with opioid use disorder, increasing from 87 to 217 per 1000 deliveries. Still, among those without opioid use disorder, the rate increased significantly from 0.7 to 2.6 per 1000.
Women aged 25 to 34 (vs. older women), those on Medicaid or Medicare (vs. private insurance), and those living in the Northeast (vs. West) were more likely to have diagnoses of both opioid use disorder and HCV infection.
The authors write, “Treatment of opioid use disorder should include screening and referral for related conditions such as HCV infection.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.