© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

Park County experiencing Hepatitis-C outbreak

Park County saw an increase of 144-percent in newly reported Hepatitis-C cases from 2011 to 2012

The Adult Viral Hepatitis Prevention Coordinator with the Wyoming Department of Health, Ashley Grajczyk, says right now Park County has about double the state rate of cases.

“What that means is we have an outbreak in that county,” she says.  

Grajczyk says the health department is “attributing the majority on newly reported cases to injection drug use. 41% of cases reported in 2012 indicated that they had either been currently, recently, or formerly injecting drugs.”

The state is working with local health agencies and organizations to increase awareness of and screening for the disease. Treatment for Hepatitis-C is expensive and there is a lot of stigma surrounding it. Currently there are no providers in the county who will treat under- or uninsured Hepatitis-C patients. That’s something Grajczyk is trying to help local health advocates work on.  

“From individuals that were testing positive in 2012, a pretty large majority of them were either underinsured or uninsured. So we’re looking for a resource for individuals who may not have insurance,” she says.  

For now, at risk people like injection drug users, can get screened for free or reduced rates by printing out a voucher at knowyo.org.

Irina Zhorov is a reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Wyoming. In between, she worked as a photographer and writer for Philadelphia-area and national publications. Her professional interests revolve around environmental and energy reporting and she's reported on mining issues from Wyoming, Mexico, and Bolivia. She's been supported by the Dick and Lynn Cheney Grant for International Study, the Eleanor K. Kambouris Grant, and the Social Justice Research Center Research Grant for her work on Bolivian mining and Uzbek alpinism. Her work has appeared on Voice of America, National Native News, and in Indian Country Today, among other publications.
Related Content