ISSN : 2663-2187

Epidemiology, risk factors and quality of life among Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infected people who inject drugs (PWID) in Manipur, India

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Babu Entoor Ramachandran, S. Benjamin Franklin, A.P. Senthil Kumar, Ramireddy Uttama Reddy, A. Arun Aloysius Magesh, Aswini Maran, A. Thomas William, V.S. Mege
» doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.6.14.2024.10614-10628

Abstract

Injecting drug use is widespread globally, with people who inject drugs (PWID) present in 179 nations. The occurrence of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is also associated with PWID. A recent extensive investigation revealed that the estimated prevalence of HCV infection in India varies from 1% to 1.9%, with significant variations in occurrence depending on the geographical area and associated risk behaviors. Consequently, the objective of our investigation was to evaluate the level of knowledge among people who inject drugs (PWID) with respect to the accessibility of HCV vaccination, the potential for HCV curability, and the risk factors associated with HCV infection. Using an explanatory research design, we examined a sample of 150 PWID who were receiving treatments and support services relevant to their drug use practices, including Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) in Community Care Centres (CCC). Our findings indicate that a significant majority (65.3%) of the PWID were knowledgeable about the impact of HCV on the liver, while 68.7% of them believed that hepatitis C is curable. We found PWID, who were infected by HCV, experiencing severe symptoms of sexual dysfunction, fever, altered taste perception, gastric discomfort, breathlessness, cough, muscle soreness, and change in body shape. Our analysis found no noticeable differences between FWID (Female who inject drugs) and MWID (male who inject drugs) in the risk of health complications caused by hepatitis C transmission. However, rural PWID were more susceptible to these problems than urban PWID. Furthermore, we found that the improved physical health conditions resulted in an enhanced quality of life among the PWID

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