Echoes and antibodies: Lingering legal issues for people affected by hepatitis C in a post-cure era

Kate Seear, Suzanne Fraser, Dion Kagan, Emily Lenton, Adrian Farrugia, and Sean Mulcahy,
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health, and Society, La Trobe University
kylie valentine, Social Policy Research Centre & Centre for Social Research in Health, University of New South Wales

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that is largely acquired through the sharing of needles, syringes, and ancillary injecting equipment. Over time, hepatitis C is potentially life-threatening. The virus primarily affects the liver and, if untreated, can lead to cirrhosis and cancer.

Though new drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C have emerged in recent years with the capacity to cure over 95% of people with the virus, people with (a history of) hepatitis C often continue to experience discrimination connected to the illicit and illegal status of injecting drug use and the stigma associated with addiction to drugs.

Importantly, antibodies exist in the blood of people with (a history of) hepatitis C that indicate that the virus was once present. Even after cure, these antibodies persist in the body. While antibodies pose no risk of disease progression or of viral transmission, healthcare professionals and others sometimes understand the presence of antibodies as evidence of having the virus and the disease.