A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.
Abstract
'...reuse of glass and metal syringes was common medical practice.'
Main
Spaulding AC, Miller LS. Lancet Infect Dis 2016; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(16)30002-0
In this COMMENT, there is a dated picture of a group of relaxed-looking young people listening to a guitarist; it has always been considered that the 'high seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus among baby boomers (can be attributed) to the risky individual behaviour of the Woodstock generation in the late 1960s.' In the substantive paper, (Lancet Infect Dis 2016; 16: 698–702) an alternative explanation is proposed. Just as the cause of the high prevalence of hepatitis C in Egypt was the unintended consequence of employing multi-use needles when administering intravenous tartar emetic for schistosomiasis, it is suggested that unsafe medical injection practices and blood transfusions were linked with hepatitis C in the US. This association was made from modelling phylogenetic analysis of genotype 1a sequences, before and after the 1960s. Although the medical establishment should accept blame for hepatitis C among the baby boomers, these commentators argue that those with hepatitis C from 'Generation Y' will be further stigmatised.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Apportioning blame in the North American hepatitis C virus epidemic. Br Dent J 221, 632 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.858
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.858