The article, “High Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Among Cisgender Women Who Exchange Sex in the Seattle, Washington Area,” has been published in SAj.
The authors state that injection drug use (IDU) is a risk factor for hepatitis C virus (HCV) acquisition and occurs disproportionately among women who exchange sex (WES). However, little is known about HCV epidemiology in this population. We estimated HCV seroprevalence, identified correlates of HCV seropositivity, and characterized social networks by HCV serostatus and IDU history among WES in the Seattle, Washington, area.
In the AUTHORS’ OWN WORDS, they relate the importance of their work:
“Previous studies among PWID have found peer referral to be an effective means of linking PWID with HCV care, but most of this research has been conducted outside of the United States, and to our knowledge, none has focused on WES.
To address these knowledge gaps, we used data from a cross-sectional survey of WES in the Seattle, Washington area to (1) estimate the prevalence of HCV seropositivity, (2) identify correlates of HCV seropositivity, and (3) characterize social networks among WES by analyzing participant recruitment trees and measuring whether and to what extent individuals were likely to recruit others with the same HCV serostatus or IDU history.”
“The high prevalence of lifetime IDU in our sample of WES highlights the need for targeted HCV services and interventions for this population. WES—as well as other women who have HCV—are likely to encounter barriers and stigma when accessing health care. One strategy for reaching stigmatized communities is through peer referral. For example, a team from the University of British Columbia found that peer referrals to drug treatment were effective for WES. Based on this and other work among populations with a high HCV burden, we hypothesized that HCV treatment interventions involving peer referral of networks may be beneficial to WES.”