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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2006;295:2839.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that 4.1 million individuals in the United States have been infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and most have chronic infections (Armstrong GL et al. Ann Intern Med. 2006;144:705-714). More than 15 000 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 1999 and 2002 provided medical histories and were tested for antibodies to HCV, the presence of HCV RNA, and serum alanine aminotransferase levels (a measure of liver function).

The prevalence of antibodies to HCV was 1.6%; peak prevalence (4.3%) was observed among individuals aged 40 to 49 years. Almost half of those with antibodies to HCV who were aged 20 to 59 years reported a history of injection drug use. Three characteristics—abnormal serum alanine aminotransferase level, any history of injection drug use, and history of blood transfusion before 1992—identified 85.1% of HCV . . . [Full Text of this Article]