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| HCV:
The Correctional Conundrum
(continued) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) took action this Spring, convening a meeting on Hepatitis in correctional settings that was attended by more than 100 federal and state correctional healthcare professionals.1 Representatives of correctional organizations (ACA, NCCHC) and representatives from federal agencies such as the OSHA and NIOSH also attended the meeting. CDC speakers discussed the need to expand HBV and HCV interventions, including screening, education, vaccination, and treatment of chronic hepatitis in correctional settings. Guidelines for HCV and HBV management incorporating some of the discussion points will be issued by the CDC as a supplement to the MMWR in the Fall. While sources of funding for increased hepatitis interventions in corrections were not specifically addressed at this meeting, promoting correctional settings as outposts for public health activities may ultimately lead to increased financial support from federal and state sources for correctional treatment initiatives. In keeping with this new national focus on hepatitis in corrections, HEPP News is dedicating two of the next three issues to updates on hepatitis management. This issue addresses HCV in corrections and summarizes discussions at the CDC meeting. The second article, scheduled for June 2001, will take up the topic of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis A immunizations in correctional settings. |
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