Research and analysis

HPR volume 13 issue 13: news (15 April)

Updated 20 December 2019

Hepatitis C in England annual report in summary

Deaths from serious hepatitis C-related liver disease in England fell by 16.1% between 2015 and 2017 (from 380 to 319) and the number of sufferers of hepatitis C-related liver disease registering for liver transplants fell to a 10-year low of 63 (representing a 53% decrease in liver transplant registrations in 2017 compared to pre-2015 levels). However, it is likely that more than 100,000 people in England are living with the infection, of whom a significant proportion are unaware they are infected.

These are among the conclusions of Public Health England (PHE)’s latest annual epidemiological report on the infection for England [1,2].

Reductions in both HCV-related mortality and morbidity are associated with increased availability of direct-acting antiviral treatments, as a result of which England has exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO)’s target of achieving a 10% reduction in hepatitis C-related mortality between 2016 and 2020. However, challenges remain if the WHO target of elimination of hepatitis C by 2030 in England is to be achieved.

In 2018, PHE and NHS England launched a national exercise to identify and treat patients who have been diagnosed with hepatitis C in the past but who may not have cleared their infections. The NHS is in the process of contacting these patients to offer testing, so those with current infection can be referred for assessment for treatment.

References

1. PHE (April 2019). Hepatitis C in England 2019: working to eliminate hepatitis C as a major public health threat.
2. Hepatitis C deaths fall by 16% between 2015 and 2017, PHE press release, 9 April 2019.

Infection reports in this issue

This issue of HPR includes:

• Laboratory reports of respiratory infections in humans (England and Wales): weeks 9 to 13, 2019.

• Routine reports of gastrointestinal infections in humans, England and Wales: February and March, 2019.

• Suspected and laboratory-confirmed reported norovirus outbreaks in hospitals (England) and norovirus laboratory reports (England and Wales): weeks 9 to 13, 2019.