HEPATITIS C AND OPIOIDS….

New hepatitis C infections are up sharply, and health officials think the opioid epidemic is to blame. New virus infections almost tripled — to 2,436 cases in 2015. Most of the rise involves people in their 20s who inject drugs. That’s led folks at the CDC to think that the opioid epidemic, which has slammed rural and suburban parts of the country, is the reason. People who have gone from taking prescription pills to injecting heroin (an opioid made from morphine) are a big part of the new infections.