STUDY FINDS SOME ADDICTS GAIN HEP C IMMUNITY

VANCOUVER (CP) -- Injection drug users whose bodies spontaneously
wipe out the hepatitis C virus may be four times less likely to
become reinfected compared to people who haven't contracted the
virus, says a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia.

Jason Grebely, a PhD candidate in the department of anesthesiology,
pharmacology and therapeutics and lead author of the study, said
yesterday the immune systems of about 20 per cent of injection drug
users have the ability to naturally clear the virus.

People with the virus can be treated, but the treatment is
complicated and lengthy and isn't often practical for people that
engage in risky behaviour such as sharing needles and transmitting
hepatitis C through their blood, Grebely said.

Results of the study involving 1,400 injection drug users from
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside are published in the current issue of
the journal Hepatology.

Grebely will soon embark on a new study with a grant from the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research to determine if injection drug
users who receive treatment for the hepatitis C virus can also be
protected from reinfection.

He said Vancouver has some of the highest hepatitis rates in North
America and those who contract it can end up with serious medical
problems, including chronic liver disease.