Intravenous drug users account for 68% of Hepatitis C patients

An overwhelming 68% patients who tested positively for the Hepatitis C virus, were users of intravenous drugs and - testament to Malta's regional conglomeration of social problems - most of them hailed from inner harbour localities like Cospicua and Valletta.

Hepatitis C is one of the main causes of chronic liver disease in the world, claiming 350,000 deaths worldwide from related liver diseases.

A total of 1,074 patients tested positive for the disease between January 2008 and May 2012 in Malta, a study based on 506 medical files has shown.

Only 56% of these patients had a scheduled appointment with an infectious disease specialist.

The profile of the patients was mainly male, 72%; with 78% of total patients aged between 21 and 50, and more than one-third aged 31-40.

68% of patients were injecting heroin, and only one case of Hep-C was attributable to a sexual infection while another single case was attributed to a needle-stick injury resulting in infection. In 2% of cases, the alleged mode of infection was via blood transfusion prior to the introduction of blood screening.

The study seems to indicate that the sharing of drug needles has persisted, despite the provision of free new syringes from public health centres.

"It is of utmost importance to draw attention of the risks of sharing needles and other apparatus to drug users," the study's authors - Anthea Brincat, Neville Azzopardi, Maria Deguara, Kelly Mifsud, Marylin Rogers and James Pocock - wrote in a recent edition of the Malta Medical Journal.

The highest number of patients were registered as living in Bormla, followed by Valletta, Santa Venera, Floriana, St Julian's and Hamrun.

The study suggests that these localities should now be targeted in health education campaigns.

Shortcomings in Hepatitis C management were blamed on the fact that working with a patient population composed mainly of drug users was proving to be difficult. Patients also tend to present themselves late for testing, unless the infection is picked up by blood-screening tests.

Patients also depended on funding from NGOs for their medical treatment, because medication was not available on the National Health Service and was also relatively expensive. This may be one of the reasons why few patients undergo treatment for Hep-C.

The best hope for patients with this disease is offered by referral to an infectious disease physician for assessment.