HEP C INFECTIONS HIT RECORD HIGH

New hepatitis C infections in Australia have hit an all-time high of 16,000
a year, or one new infection every 32 minutes, prompting experts to predict
a trebling of the number of people requiring liver transplants. At present
there are 210,000 Australians with hepatitis C, with 91 percent of new
infections occurring through shared injection drug equipment. In the next
18 years this figure could jump to anywhere from 321,000 to 836,000,
according to Dr. Greg Dore of the National Center of HIV Epidemiology and
Clinical Research.

"The only realistic possibility of keeping the number of infections below
that upper range is if a vaccine becomes available, if HCV transmission
among injection drug users is markedly reduced, or if treatments improve,"
said Dore.

Australian Hepatitis Council President Stuart Loveday said that while
Australia was the first country to have a national strategy for hepatitis
C, it was largely unfunded. The hepatitis C crisis is being discussed at
the 14th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine in
Sydney.