Nationwide Hepatitis C Serosurvey and Progress Towards Hepatitis C Virus Elimination in the Country of Georgia, 2021

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Gamkrelidze, Amiran ; Shadaker, Shaun ; Tsereteli, Maia ; Alkhazashvili, Maia ; Chitadze, Nazibrola ; Tskhomelidze, Irina ; Gvinjilia, Lia ; Khetsuriani, Nino ; Handanagic, Senad ; Averhoff, Francisco ; Cloherty, Gavin ; Chakhunashvili, Giorgi ; Drobeniuc, Jan ; Imnadze, Paata ; Zakhashvili, Khatuna ; Armstrong, Paige A.
• Description:
  Background.
  
  The country of Georgia initiated its hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination program in 2015, at which point a serosurvey showed the adult prevalence of HCV antibody (anti-HCV) and HCV RNA to be 7.7% and 5.4%, respectively. This analysis reports hepatitis C results of a follow-up serosurvey conducted in 2021, and progress towards elimination.
  
  Methods.
  
  The serosurvey used a stratified, multistage cluster design with systematic sampling to include adults and children (aged 5–17 years) providing consent (or assent with parental consent). Blood samples were tested for anti-HCV and if positive, HCV RNA. Weighted proportions and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were compared with 2015 age-adjusted estimates.
  
  Results.
  
  Overall, 7237 adults and 1473 children were surveyed. Among adults, the prevalence of anti-HCV was 6.8% (95% CI, 5.9–7.7). The HCV RNA prevalence was 1.8% (95% CI, 1.3–2.4), representing a 67% reduction since 2015. HCV RNA prevalence decreased among those reporting risk factors of ever injecting drugs (51.1% to 17.8%), and ever receiving a blood transfusion (13.1% to 3.8%; both P < .001). No children tested positive for anti-HCV or HCV RNA.
  
  Conclusions.
  
  These results demonstrate substantial progress made in Georgia since 2015. These findings can inform strategies to meet HCV elimination targets.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Georgia Hepacivirus Hepatitis C Humans Prevalence Risk Factors RNA
• Keywords:
  Elimination Hepatitis C Prevalence Serosurvey
• Source:
  J Infect Dis. 228(6):684-693
• Pubmed ID:
  36932731
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10506179
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; CC/CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  228
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f6c39a54865d46183035c8c71dd41fa45240400005889dba194a198cb7d21b17004610082aec22aba03504a8b4e920a18e009bf04a43003edaefee1d2ad2f74a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/133259/cdc_133259_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 618.90 KB ]