West Virginia is battling one of the largest hepatitis A outbreaks in U.S. history, which has sickened about 1,031 people in 2018 alone. Health officials believe the surge is possibly linked to the opioid epidemic and excessive drug use, according to Scientific American.
Here are four things to know:
1. About 80 percent of those infected with hepatitis A in the outbreak reported using illicit drugs, according to state outbreak records. Health officials are not sure what specific substances individuals are taking, however, from self-reported patient data, about 58 percent of patients indicated they used injectable drugs, and 42 percent used noninjected ones. Some patients indicated they use both, and others specifically mentioned using heroin.
2. National hepatitis A infection rates declined by about 95 percent since a vaccine first became available in 1995. However, in the past few years rates have increased due to large, multistate outbreaks linked to homelessness and drug use. In 2016, West Virginia had the highest opioid overdose death rate in the U.S., with every 43.4 deaths per 100,000.
3. Viral genome sequencing indicates the same hepatitis A strain is responsible for the outbreaks in West Virginia, Kentucky and California. The outbreaks are seen within areas with a high homeless population.
4. West Virginia's Bureau for Public Health has administered about 18,000 doses of the hepatitis A vaccine for the current outbreak.