Risk Factors for HCV Infection Among Young Adults in Rural New York Who Inject Prescription Opioid Analgesics

OBJECTIVES: We investigated a cluster of new hepatitis C cases in rural New York among a cohort of young people who inject drugs (PWID) and misuse prescription opioid analgesics (POA). METHODS: We recruited a purposive sample of PWID from Cortland County for an in-person survey and HCV rapid antibody test (March-July 2012). We examined sociodemographics, drugs currently injected, and lifetime and recent injection behaviors to ascertain associations with HCV antibody (anti-HCV) positivity. RESULTS: Of 123 PWID, 76 (61.8%) were younger than 30 years, and 100 (81.3%) received HCV rapid testing. Of those tested, 34 (34.0%) were positive. Participants who reported injecting POA in the past 12 months were 5 times more likely to be anti-HCV positive than those who injected drugs other than POA, and participants who reported sharing injection equipment in the past 12 months were roughly 4 times more likely to be anti-HCV positive than those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests people injecting POA may be at higher risk for HCV infection than people who inject heroin or other drugs but not POA.