Prison hepatitis C poised to infect U.S.

According to public health experts, hepatitis C-positive convicts leaving prison could pose a huge threat to the general population over the next several years, making it one of the biggest upcoming health threats the system will face. Right now, only 2 percent of the general population is estimated to carry hep C, but roughly 40 percent of the 2.2 million U.S. prison population is project to be infected. This happens, largely, because disease is spread by high-risk behavior common in prison, such as needle sharing, getting prison tattoos and body piercing. Infected patients risk liver failure or liver cancer, but prisons seldom screen for hep C, avoiding the $9,500 annual cost per patient of treatment for the disease. Now, public health officials are warning that if the problem isn't stemmed in prisons, convicts exiting prison will spread the infection throughout the population, creating a staggering burden for the larger healthcare system.

To learn more about the hepatitis C threat:
- read this Associated Press item

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