Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection in Australia

Farrell, Geoffrey C.; Weltman, Martin; J, Dingley; Lin, Rita

doi:10.1007/bf02989201

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…These high figures for anti-HCV can explain the reported increase of hospital discharges for liver diseases in Crete [8][9][10]; it is probable that HCV is the main causative agent for these findings. These figures for anti-HCV prevalence are also quite different from those reported in other European countries, like France [27] or Sweden ]28], and also in non-European countries like Australia [29], South Africa [30,31] and China [32] or even in Arabic countries like Oman [33]. Anti-HCV prevalence figures, similar to our female group, have been reported for elderly Japanese [34], while high prevalence rates similar to our total population have been reported from certain areas of Japan [35,36].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 79%

Current prevalence of hepatitis A, B and C in a well‐defined area in rural Crete, Greece

Lionis

Koulentaki

Biziagos

et al. 1997

Journal of Viral Hepatitis

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A seroepidemiological study was carried out in a geographically well-defined area in rural Crete in order to determine the prevalence of A, B and C hepatitis markers in the local population. Serum samples were obtained from 257 subjects (94 males, 163 females), aged 15 years and over, who visited the primary health care services of the Spili Health Centre between July 1993 and March 1994, and from 164 subjects (83 males, 81 females) randomly selected from households in three neighbouring villages of the study area. In samples obtained from the Spili Health Centre, antibodies to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) were detected in 234/244 (95.9%) subjects, antibodies to hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAb) were detected in 63/257 (24.5%) subjects and antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) were detected in 28/257 (10.9%) subjects. The corresponding figures for those randomly selected from the villages were 135/154 (87.7%), 16/164 (9.8%) and 5/164 (3%) respectively. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was positive in three (1.2%) subjects from the first group, while none of those recruited from the villages were positive for HBsAg. Interestingly, hepatitis markers were closely associated with age. No subjects under the age of 15 years showed evidence of prior hepatitis A infection and approximately 20% of those between 15 and 44 years of age were also negative. By contrast, practically all subjects older than 44 years were anti-HAV positive. Similarly, the majority of all those who were anti-HCV positive were older subjects. Seroepidemiology of hepatitis in this well-defined population seems to be different from other parts of Greece, at least for hepatitis B and C viruses. There is a very low prevalence of HBsAg and a very high incidence of anti-HCV. Low exposure to HAV, as found in other parts of the country, was also found in the younger generation in this rural area of Crete.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 79%

Current prevalence of hepatitis A, B and C in a well‐defined area in rural Crete, Greece

Lionis

Koulentaki

Biziagos

et al. 1997

Journal of Viral Hepatitis

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“…The overall prevalence of HCV infection in the general population of Eastern India in our study was lower (0.87%) than that reported from the United States, Italy, Egypt, and two developed countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, Japan 32 and Australia. 33 Age-specific prevalence of HCV in our study was low in children (0.31%), but increased progressively from adolescents (0.83%) to adults (1%) and older persons (1.85%). Similar low prevalence of HCV infection has been reported in children (0.2%) and adolescents (0.4%) from the United States.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 46%

Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the General Population: A Community–Based Study in West Bengal, India

et al. 2003

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Limited information is available about the prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the general population of India. A community-based epidemiologic study was carried out in a district in West Bengal, India. By a 1:3 sampling method, 3,579 individuals were preselected from 10,737 inhabitants of 9 villages of the district, of whom 2,973 (83.1%) agreed to participate. Twenty-six subjects (0.87%) were HCV antibody positive. The prevalence increased from 0.31% in subjects <10 years of age to 1.85% in those >60 years. No difference in prevalence between men and women was observed. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were elevated in 30.8% (8 of 26) of anti-HCV-positive subjects compared with 3.2% (94 of 2,947) anti-HCV-negative subjects (P < .001). HCV RNA was detectable in 80.8% (95% CI, 65.6%-95.91%) of the anti-HCV-positive subjects by reverse transcription-primed polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The participants were HCV types 1b in 2 (9.5%), 3a in 8 (38.1%), 3b in 6 (28.6%), and unclassified in 5 (23.8%). Nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis assigned the unclassified type to genotype 3e. In conclusion, this study provides general population-based estimates of HCV prevalence, including genotypes, from a South Asian country. Although the prevalence of HCV infection in this population was lower than that reported from industrialized countries of the west, the total reservoir of infection is significant and calls for public health measures, including health education to limit the magnitude of the problem. (HEPATOLOGY 2003;37: 802-809.)H epatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an evolving public health problem globally. 1,2 This virus infects approximately 3% of the world population, placing approximately 170 million people at risk for developing HCV-related chronic liver disease. 3 The natural history of HCV infection is characterized by an often clinically unapparent acute phase, followed by chronic infection in over half of those infected. [4][5][6] It is an important etiologic agent for hepatic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and is the most common indication for liver transplantation in the United States, northern Europe, and Japan. [7][8][9][10] In the developing countries of Asia and Africa, although hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains the most common cause of chronic necroinflammatory and neoplastic liver disease, HCV is emerging rapidly as an infection warranting attention. 11 Epidemiologic assessment of the magnitude of the problem and the factors influencing HCV transmission in these countries is essential for public health planning for preventing the spread of the infection.Although a number of blood donor studies are available, 12,13 the relatively few population-based studies from the United States, 14 Europe, [15][16][17] and Egypt 18 have provided detailed information on the dynamics of HCV transmission and other facets of descriptive and analytic epidemiology of the infection. The prevalence rate as well as the significance of HCV infection varies consid...

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“…It is one of the main causes of end‐stage liver disease and, in many centres, is the leading cause for liver transplantation 1 . In Australia, it is estimated that there are currently approximately 150 000−200 000 people infected and only a small proportion of these have so far received treatment 2 . It is estimated that 15−20% will develop cirrhosis and complications of end‐stage liver disease 3 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outcome, tolerability and compliance of compassionate use interferon and ribavirin for hepatitis C infection in a shared care hospital clinic

Kontorinis¹,

Garas²,

Young³

et al. 2003

Internal Medicine Journal

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These 'shared care' clinic results compare well with controlled clinical trials using combination therapy for chronic HCV infection. Outcomes were poorer in genotype 1 patients and in patients with cirrhosis. Compliance with therapy was excellent because of the 'Shared Care Programme' with participation of general practitioners, psychiatrists and hepatitis C nurse practitioners in the management protocol.

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Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection in Australia

Cited by 19 publications

References 16 publications

Current prevalence of hepatitis A, B and C in a well‐defined area in rural Crete, Greece

Current prevalence of hepatitis A, B and C in a well‐defined area in rural Crete, Greece

Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the General Population: A Community–Based Study in West Bengal, India

Outcome, tolerability and compliance of compassionate use interferon and ribavirin for hepatitis C infection in a shared care hospital clinic

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