Hepatitis C Surveillance in Canada

Overview

Journal Can Commun Dis Rep

Specialties Infectious Diseases
Public Health

Date 2018 May 18

PMID 29769873

Citations 8

Authors

E Payne

S Totten

C Archibald

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis C is a highly transmissible virus that can lead to chronic liver disease. It continues to be a major public health concern in Canada.

Objective: To describe surveillance trends of reported cases of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Canada by age and sex from 1991-2012.

Methods: Cases of HCV reported to the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System were compiled at the national level. As most reported cases are not differentiated by acute or chronic HCV infection status, presented results are based on total HCV cases. Time trends are provided from 1991-2012, with a more detailed examination of age and sex patterns from 2005-2012.

Results: The rate of reported HCV infection increased sharply from 1991 (the year it was first notifiable) until 1998, when the highest overall rate of 66.9 per 100,000 was observed. From that time until 2012, rates of reported cases decreased in both sexes, but remained consistently higher among males than females. In 2012, the overall rate of reported HCV infection was 29.3 per 100,000. In younger age groups, rates among females were marginally higher, while males in older age groups (30 and above) exhibited substantially higher rates.

Conclusion: This surveillance summary presents the longer-term trends in reported cases and corresponding rates of HCV in Canada using national surveillance data. Canada continues to experience a downward trend in HCV rates; however, the burden of infection will continue to increase as chronically infected individuals develop severe illness.

Citing Articles

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Descriptive epidemiology of hepatitis C in individuals referred for specialized HCV care in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1996-2014.

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Clinical, Epidemiological, and Geospatial Characteristics of Patients Infected with Hepatitis C Virus Treated with Second-Generation Direct-Action Antivirals in a Reference Center in a Mesoregion of São Paulo State, Brazil.

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Cooper C, Galanakis C, Donelle J, Kwong J, Boyd R, Boucher L BMC Infect Dis. 2019; 19(1):712.

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Shah H, Bilodeau M, Burak K, Cooper C, Klein M, Ramji A CMAJ. 2018; 190(22):E677-E687.

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