Mentally
Ill Patients at Risk for HIV, TB, and Hepatitis
11-20-2000
http://www.prn.org/prn_nb_cntnt/oldcaps/cap11-20-00.01.htm
New
research presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of
Psychosomatic Medicine in Palm Springs, California, indicates
that patients in mental hospitals are at greater risk for HIV,
tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis compared to individuals in
the general population. Scientists studied more than 650 men
and women admitted to psychiatric facilities between 1997 and
1999. The researchers discovered that the patients were four
to five times more likely to be infected with hepatitis B and
12 times as likely to have hepatitis C, while 20 percent
tested positive for TB, and the estimated rate of HIV
infection was 3 percent. Lead author Dr. W.F. Pirl of Harvard
Medical School and the Eric Lindemann Mental Health Center in
Boston, said the high infection rates were surprising, but
better testing and treatment could help.
Source:
Reuters
Health Information Services (11/17/00); Mozes, Alan;
Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB
Prevention.
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