Successful treatment of chronic hepatitis C with triple therapy in an opioid agonist treatment program.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) constitute 10 million people globally with hepatitis C virus, including many opioid agonist treatment patients. Little data exist describing clinical outcomes for patients receiving HCV treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) in opioid agonist treatment settings.

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we describe clinical outcomes for 50 genotype-1 patients receiving HCV treatment with triple therapy: telaprevir (n=42) or boceprevir (n=8) in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin on-site in an opioid agonist treatment program.

Reducing barriers to hepatitis C treatment among drug users: an integrated hepatitis C peer education and support program.

This report describes an innovative HCV Peer Educator Program that facilitates education, support, and engagement in HCV treatment among patients in an opioid treatment program. Integrating peer educators in a collaborative manner with close supervision holds promise as a model to reduce barriers to HCV treatment among drug users.

Exploring and influencing the knowledge and attitudes of health professionals towards extended breastfeeding.

Background: Although many U.S. professional health organizations have policy statements that support the breastfeeding of children beyond one year (extended breastfeeding), the actual attitudes of health workers towards this practice have not been explored.