On Thursday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Hepatitis C rates have jumped in four central Appalachian states, especially rural parts of the region.

The rising rates are biggest among people under age 30 living in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. In these four states alone, hepatitis C infections rose 364% from 2006 to 2012 and nearly half of those cases (44.8%) were among people under age 30.

Hepatitis C is a contagious liver infection which is spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person. According to the CDC, some 3 million Americans are infected with the Hepatitis C virus.

Chronic infections can lead to liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer and some proves fatal. A new drug Sovaldi is available for cure, but it costs $84, 000 for a 12-week course.

The reason for the rapid increase of Hepatitis C cases is due to the fact that young people in that part of the country are injecting heroin and other opioids at epidemic rates. There was 12.6% rise of any kind of opioid injection during the six year period by young people who were admitted for drug treatment.

When people were interviewed about risk factors for infection, 73% said they had used intravenous drugs, mainly heroin or prescription opioids.

The study also noted similar findings in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and upstate New York. This indicated that heroin and opioid use is soaring in the United States.

The study concluded, "The number of admitted patients who report injecting suggests that the increase in acute hepatitis C infections in central Appalachia is highly correlated with the region’s epidemic of prescription opioid abuse and facilitated by an upsurge in the number of persons who inject drugs in these four states”.