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A 2015 study conducted in Nairobi and Mombasa has found that one in every three drug injectors is living with hepatitis.
The study, a collaborative work of Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and Kenya Aids NGOs Consortium (Kanco), also found that 36 per cent of people who inject drugs were infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Twenty two per cent had both HCV and HIV and only 5 per cent were infected with HIV only while 37 per cent were free from any infection.
A different study, published in the Lancet Infectious Disease journal, concluded that Kenya (from a pool of 33 countries) led in sub-Saharan Africa on Hepatitis C–HIV co-infection.
According to Dr Peter Borus of KEMRI, drug injectors are considered high risk groups compared to those who don't inject drugs.
In contrast, the KEMRI/Kanco team discovered that the prevalence for Hepatitis B (HBV) was low - similar to the prevalence in the general population at 3.9 per cent.
However, there is no vaccine for Hepatitis C virus unlike Hepatitis A and B. Medics primarily rely on preventive measures to control the disease.
The KEMRI/Kanco study sampled a total of 552 PWID: 152 in Nairobi and 400 in Mombasa.
"The objective was to carry out an evaluation on prevalence of Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B among the people who inject drugs in the two cities," says Sylvia Ayon, a Programme Manager with Kanco.
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