04 Mar Hepatitis C: About 1% US Population Infected
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Scott D. Holmberg, MD, MPH
Chief, Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch
Division of Viral Hepatitis.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Holmberg: Based on interview and testing of over 30, 000 National Health and Nutrition and Examination Survey (NHANES) participants from 2003 to 2010, 273 US residents or about 1%, are chronically (actively) infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). This translates to about 2.7 million chronic HCV-infected persons in the non-institutionalized population.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Holmberg: This analysis indicated that the number of chronically infected persons are about 500,000 fewer than a similar NHANES analysis done between 1999 and 2002. This may be related to statistical variation between the two samples, or, as we have observed, increasing mortality in HCV-infected patients.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Holmberg: Hepatitis C virus is a widely prevalent infection that causes more morbidity and mortality than most other infectious diseases. Because of the long incubation period between infection and overt disease—often 20, 30, or more years—infected patients and even clinicians may be inclined to dismiss HCV as an indolent, even benign infection. This study underscores the importance of CDC and US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations that all persons born between 1945 and 1965, about 75% of all cases, should get tested at least once for hepatitis C virus.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Holmberg: This analysis needs to be repeated in future years as an important index and measure of trends in chronic hepatitis C.
Citation:
Ann Intern Med. 2014;160(5):293-300-300. doi:10.7326/M13-1133
Last Updated on March 4, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD