Thomadakis, Christos and Gountas, Ilias and Duffell, Erika and Gountas, Konstantinos and Bluemel, Benjamin and Seyler, Thomas and Pericoli, Filippo Maria and Kászoni-Rückerl, Irene and El-Khatib, Ziad and Busch, Martin and Schmutterer, Irene and Vanwolleghem, Thomas and Klamer, Sofieke and Plettinckx, Els and Mortgat, Laure and Van Beckhoven, Dominique and Varleva, Tonka and Kosanovic Licina, Mirjana Lana and Nemeth Blazic, Tatjana and Nonković, Diana and Theophanous, Fanitsa and Nemecek, Vratislav and Maly, Marek and Christensen, Peer Brehm and Cowan, Susan and Rüütel, Kristi and Brummer-Korvenkontio, Henrikki and Brouard, Cécile and Steffen, Gyde and Krings, Amrei and Dudareva, Sandra and Zimmermann, Ruth and Nikolopoulou, Georgia and Molnár, Zsuzsanna and Kozma, Emese and Gottfredsson, Magnús and Murphy, Niamh and Kondili, Loreta A and Tosti, Maria Elena and Ciccaglione, Anna Rita and Suligoi, Barbara and Nikiforova, Raina and Putnina, Renate and Jancoriene, Ligita and Seguin-Devaux, Carole and Melillo, Tanya and Boyd, Anders and van der Valk, Marc and Op de Coul, Eline and et, al. (2024) Prevalence of chronic HCV infection in EU/EEA countries in 2019 using multiparameter evidence synthesis. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 36, 100792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100792.
External website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/...
BACKGROUND: Epidemiological data are crucial to monitoring progress towards the 2030 Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) elimination targets. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of chronic HCV infection (cHCV) in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) countries in 2019.
METHODS: Multi-parameter evidence synthesis (MPES) was used to produce national estimates of cHCV defined as: π = πρ + πρ + πρ; π, π, and π represent cHCV prevalence among recent people who inject drugs (PWID), ex-PWID, and non-PWID, respectively, while ρ, ρ, and ρ represent the proportions of these groups in the population. Information sources included the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) national operational contact points (NCPs) and prevalence database, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction databases, and the published literature.
FINDINGS: The cHCV prevalence in 29 of 30 EU/EEA countries in 2019 was 0.50%. The highest cHCV prevalence was observed in the eastern EU/EEA. At least 35.76% of the overall cHCV prevalence in EU/EEA countries was associated with injecting drugs.
INTERPRETATION: Using MPES and collaborating with ECDC NCPs, we estimated the prevalence of cHCV in the EU/EEA to be low. Some areas experience higher cHCV prevalence while a third of prevalent cHCV infections was attributed to PWID. Further efforts are needed to scale up prevention measures and the diagnosis and treatment of infected individuals, especially in the east of the EU/EEA and among PWID.
G Health and disease > Disease by cause (Aetiology) > Communicable / infectious disease > Hepatitis C (HCV)
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Harm reduction > Substance use harm reduction
T Demographic characteristics > Person who injects drugs (Intravenous / injecting)
VA Geographic area > Europe
VA Geographic area > Europe > Ireland
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