Hepatitis C virus: laboratory surveillance in England and Wales, 1992–2004

Between 1992 and 2004, a total of 49 819 confirmed hepatitis C infections have been reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) by laboratories in England and Wales; the annual number of reports increased from 241 in 1991 to 8149 in 2004. Most reports with a known risk factor were in injecting dr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEpidemiology and infection Vol. 135; no. 4; pp. 541 - 548
Main Authors GUNGABISSOON, U., BALOGUN, M. A., RAMSAY, M. E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.05.2007
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Age groups
Biological and medical sciences
Blood transfusion
Child
Child, Preschool
England - epidemiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hepacivirus
Hepacivirus - pathogenicity
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C - epidemiology
Hepatitis C virus
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Infections
Male
Microbiology
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Population estimates
Predisposing factors
Public health
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Surveillance
Virology
Viruses
Wales - epidemiology
England
United Kingdom
Great Britain
Europe
Wales
British Isles, England
British Isles, Wales
Virus
Human
Microbiology
Flaviviridae
Hepatitis C virus
Hepacivirus
Epidemiology
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Summary:Between 1992 and 2004, a total of 49 819 confirmed hepatitis C infections have been reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) by laboratories in England and Wales; the annual number of reports increased from 241 in 1991 to 8149 in 2004. Most reports with a known risk factor were in injecting drug users (87%, 12 438/14 221), but 71% (35 598/49 819) of the total had no reported identified risk. The age-sex distribution of the latter cases was similar to that in injecting drug users. Using names to assign ethnicity, individuals with South Asian names had an older age distribution and a different risk factor profile from non-South Asians. Using published age-specific prevalence data from 1996, it was estimated that around 281 764 cases of hepatitis C infection exist in England and Wales, and that only 17% of these cases have been reported to the HPA. Surveillance reports continue to provide important information regarding trends in hepatitis C infection in specific risk groups.
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PII:S0950268806007138
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ISSN:0950-2688
1469-4409
DOI:10.1017/S0950268806007138