The impact of hepatitis C virus infection on methadone maintenance treatment.
Hepatitis C virus infection is now recognized as a common and serious complication of injection drug use and will be encountered frequently in methadone maintenance patients. Approximately 1.8% of the United States population, or 3.9 million persons, are infected with hepatitis C virus. A majority of acute hepatitis C virus infections are associated with injection drug use, and 64-88% of injection drug users in seroprevalence studies have antibodies to hepatitis C. Hepatitis C virus infection is almost always chronic, and alcohol use increases the clinical severity. Therapy with interferon and ribavirin will induce long-term remission in up to 43% of patients with hepatitis C virus infection. Proper diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C virus infection will be indicated for many patients in methadone programs and will require considerable resources.
Novick
D M
DM
Digestive Specialists, Inc., Kettering Medical Center, OH 45429, USA.
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000821:virology; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004347:Drug Interactions; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D008691:Methadone