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July 17, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Douglas County Fighting High Hepatitis Rate"

Associated Press (www.ap.org) (07/16/02)

Douglas County, Wis., has confirmed 30 new cases of hepatitis C so far this year, up from a total of 20 new cases identified in the county in 2000.  The county, which recorded 39 new cases of hepatitis C last year, has the most hepatitis C cases in the state, according to county health department nurse Judith Walker. Walker attributed the high infection rate in part to an increase in the number of people getting tattoos or body piercings, as well as to intravenous drug use.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 4 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, and there are 36,000 new cases of acute hepatitis C infection in the country every year.

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