Encouraging Testing of Partners for Persons Newly Diagnosed With Hepatitis C

Abstract

To the Editor: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends increased testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.1 Testing linked with effective curative therapy results in significant decreases in morbidity and mortality and is cost-effective.2,3 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that HCV is transmitted by needle sharing, sharing of drug paraphernalia, and less efficiently through sexual transmission.4 Therefore, it makes sense that sexual partners and others who are exposed to blood through drug use or other means should be encouraged to receive counseling and testing for HCV. However, none of the public health recommendations regarding testing recommend that providers counsel HCV-infected persons to inform and encourage their partners to be tested for HCV. Historically, encouraging partner testing has been an important tool to identify undiagnosed HIV infection and to encourage testing among higher-risk social networks. Recommendations to test needle sharing and drug paraphernalia sharing partners, as well as sexual partners for HCV (coupled with appropriate counseling about the low likelihood of sexual infection), have the potential to increase testing among individuals at higher risk. Many persons infected with HCV remain undiagnosed; therefore, this is a potential new strategy to increase testing among those unaware of their infection.5 As a start, encouraging partner testing with appropriate counseling should be recommended to individuals diagnosed with HCV. Further research regarding ethical, effective, and cost-effective, community-based interventions to enhance HCV testing among drug use and sexual partners of HCV-infected individuals is needed. Katherine M. Dunham Brown University Providence, RILauri Bazerman, MS The Miriam Hospital Providence, RICurt G. Beckwith, MD The Miriam Hospital and Division of Infectious Diseases Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, RIBenjamin P. Linas, MD, MPHJoshua Barocas, MD Division of Infectious Diseases Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine Boston, MATimothy P. Flanigan, MD The Miriam Hospital and Division of Infectious Diseases Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, RI [email protected]