THREE-WEEK LIFE FOR HEPATITUS VIRUS

Hepatitis C, the fastest growing infectious disease in Australia, may be
even more contagious than first thought, according to new research.

In a paper to be presented at this week's Australian Society for
Microbiology national conference in Hobart, scientists will show the
hepatitis C virus can survive for up to three weeks at room temperature in
discarded blood-contaminated syringes.

The head of the research project, Dr Scott Bowden, said this meant that
besides the obvious risk of infection from re-using needles, other
injecting equipment including tourniquets, water, spoons and filters could
also harbour the virus.

The team from the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in
Melbourne tested a virus closely related to hepatitis C to see how long it
remained live.

Bovine viral diarrhoeal virus was used for the study because it is
impossible to grow hepatitis C virus using traditional laboratory methods.

Dr Bowden said the best way to reduce transmission of blood-borne viruses
was to increase the availability of clean needles and syringes and
highlight the risks of sharing needles.

The Herald reported early this month that Australia faced a $1 billion
health care bill over the next 10 years because of the hepatitis C epidemic.

There are about 190,000 infected Australians, most of whom are aged between
20 and 39, and 10,000 new cases are reported each year.

Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver transmitted via blood-
to-blood contact and can cause cirrhosis, liver cancer and premature death.
Many people display no symptoms until their liver is damaged.

- - The Age

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski