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Nationwide Hepatitis C Serosurvey and Progress Towards Hepatitis C Virus Elimination in the Country of Georgia, 2021
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9 15 2023
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Source: J Infect Dis. 228(6):684-693
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Details:
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Alternative Title:J Infect Dis
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Personal Author:
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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.
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Pubmed ID:36932731
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Pubmed Central ID:PMC10506179
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Volume:228
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Issue:6
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