ATLANTA, June 5 (UPI) -- Intravenous drug use is largely to blame for a more than triple increase in instances of hepatitis C in four Appalachian states, a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The CDC said between 2006 and 2012, hepatitis C (HCV) infections in the mostly rural areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia increased by 364 percent. The infection rates were highest among people under the age of 30.