About 5,000 Nova Scotians have the infection, which spreads through the blood and damages the liver. It’s a chronic condition caused by the hepatitis C virus. Only Nova Scotia and P.E.I. saw rates increase in the number of new cases.
Adam Dolliver, program coordinator of the Hepatitis Outreach Society, said it’s unclear why more people are contracting it.
“There could be a whole lot of reasons. It's really difficult to say why people are being infected. IV [intravenous] drug use is a risk factor, but there are others,” he said.
Ten years ago, about 250 new cases were diagnosed. This year, it was close to 300.
Dolliver says about 70 per cent of hep C patients in the province are intravenous drug users.
Dirty needles
Jason Kearnes learned he had hepatitis C three years ago.
“You should always have clean needles on hand. I screwed up a couple times. And I knew I was going to catch it,” he said in Halifax.
Kearnes said he knows of more and more people becoming infected.
Dolliver said education is key to reducing infection rates. People can reduce the risk by never sharing drug needles or equipment, wearing latex gloves before contacting someone else’s blood, practicing safe sex and making sure a tattoo parlour uses sterile tools.
“People in Nova Scotia just don't realize that it is as much of an issue as it is. We know that hepatitis C is ten times more prevalent than HIV/AIDS in Atlantic Canada. And people just don't know that,” he said.
