Blood samples tested for hep C

Vanguard nurse Mary Lou Miller has been busy collecting blood samples from Vanguard participants since mid-1997. The samples are being frozen and stored for future immunological testing. Nearly 700 Vanguard participants have provided at least one blood sample so far, and some have provided as many as six samples, for a combined total of nearly 1500 samples.

We are currently in the process of testing 200 randomly-selected blood samples for hepatitis C. Blood-to-blood contact such as needle sharing is known to transmit hep C, but there is some question as to how infectious hep C may be through sexual contact.

In an abstract submitted to an upcoming conference, Kevin Craib examined the results of hep C testing on samples from the Vancouver Lymphadenopathy-AIDS Study. The results show that injection drug use doesn't account for all cases of hep C infection among gay men, and indicate that gay men with HIV are more likely to have hep C as well.

If you think you might be at risk for hep C, please ask your doctor or Mary Lou for a hep C test. We'll update you on the progress of this research as results becomes available.