An epidemic of hepatitis B occurring in a rural area of Nova Scotia in 1988 and 1989 was investigated. Illicit injectable drug use (IIDU) was the major determinant of transmission. The epidemic was the first highly visible indication of IIDU in Nova Scotia. A contact-tracing approach was used to identify the cohort of IIDUs. Of 186 IIDUs, 78 had serological evidence of hepatitis B infection. Using epidemiological criteria, it was determined that 57 of these formed a definite cluster of hepatitis B infections. Age, the total number of IIDU-contacts named and the number of hepatitis B seropositive IIDU-contacts named were identified as risk factors for hepatitis B infection. Six cases of delta hepatitis coinfection were found among the cluster cases, with a secondary attack rate estimated at seven percent. Risk-reduction and immunization strategies for the prevention of viral illnesses associated with IIDU were recommended.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.59856 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Poulin, Christiane Claire |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001167725, proquestno: AAIMM66491, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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