Reliving it All Over Again: Uncanny Temporalities of Injection Drug Use and Hepatitis C Diagnosis in Southwest Virginia, USA

Burraway J, Helbert B, Schexnayder J, Knick T, Dillingham R, Scherz C. Reliving it All Over Again: Uncanny Temporalities of Injection Drug Use and Hepatitis C Diagnosis in Southwest Virginia, USA. Medical Anthropology. 2022:1–14.

Abstract

Clinicians typically view the intersection between hepatitis C and injection drug use in terms of simultaneity – with transmission occurring via shared needles – or sequentially – with some states requiring that people stop using drugs prior to treatment. Yet, for patients, the connection between substance use and HCV infection can follow a more complex temporal pathway. In this article, we explore the non-linear temporality of “reliving” as it shapes HCV illness experience, its complex intersection with injection drug use, and the barriers patients face as they reckon with existing healthcare system responses and treatment modalities.

Last updated on 08/10/2022