Hepatitis C hitting cities across state
Boston, Springfield and New Bedford were identified as infection “hot spots” in the state’s heroin-fueled hepatitis C epidemic, a revelation researchers say will help double down on prevention efforts and cut soaring Medicaid costs.
“This is another occasion where we’re seeing the multiple negative outcomes of the opioid epidemic that has created tremendous challenges for the public health system and health care in Massachusetts,” said Thomas Stopka, an author on the recent analysis and professor in the Department of Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.
“The cost to treat it is still quite high. And the extent to which we can avoid new cases appearing can save money,” Stopka added.
Reported hepatitis C cases in the Bay State increased by 137 percent between 2002 and 2013 among people 15 to 29 years old. The highest prevalence was seen in those three areas, along with less populated regions like Fitchburg, Holyoke and various spots along the Cape, according to a report published in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases.
Stopka and his colleagues used data from the state Department of Public Health to pinpoint cities with the highest incidence, accounting for factors like total population and surrounding prisons populations. Places hit the hardest saw up to 1,000 reported cases per square mile between 2002 and 2013. Boston, in total, had 11,508.
“Our hope is this will help inform public health officials to hopefully guide better targeting of interventions,” Stopka said, with efforts such as more syringe exchange programs.
MassHealth saw the cost of hepatitis C drugs exceed $318 million from 2014 to 2016, and that number is only expected to grow as the state expands coverage for those patients.
The program relaxed its requirements for coverage last August. Patients no longer need to be clean for at least six months, and the level of liver damage to qualify has been reduced.
“There’s a great deal of hepatitis C across the state, and it’s going to become more important to know more about the communities that are most affected,” said David Meyers, doctoral student at Brown School of Public Health, and author on the paper.
Meyers said public health clinics in those areas can use the data to develop new outreach efforts.
He and Stopka said the next step is to track shifts in clusters, to get a sense of where exactly the cases are being contracted.
About 3.2 million Americans are living with hepatitis C. It can cause chronic health problems, and in some cases, result in death.