Hepatitis C in Poland in 2019

Abstract

Background: HCV infection continues to be a significant public health problem in Europe. The aim of the study was to assess the epidemiological situation of hepatitis C in Poland in 2019, based on data collected as part of epidemiological surveillance in 2019, comparing them to data from previous years.

Material and methods: The following were analyzed: 1) data from epidemiological surveillance in 2019 2) diagnosis rates from "Infectious Diseases and Poisonings in Poland" bulletins for the years 2013-2019 3) data on deaths due to hepatitis C from the Demographic Surveys and Labour Market Department of the Statistics Poland.

Results: In 2019, the HCV diagnosis rate was 8.71 per 100 thousand - a total of 3 343 cases of HCV infection were reported. This was a slight decrease compared to 2018. Still we observe the rate differentiation, territorial (differences in the value of the diagnosis rate are noticeable already at the voivodeship and poviat level) and demographic (higher rates in men than in women, higher rates in urban than in rural areas), which is probably related to HCV testing accessibility. Among acute hepatitis C cases according to the EU definition, indicative of current HCV transmission, exposures related to health care (haemodialysis and nosocomial transmission) were identified, followed by non-medical injection (community needle stick injuries, tattoos, piercings) and sexual contact. A low number of diagnoses (5.9%; 196/3343) among people who inject drugs indicate diagnostic difficulties.

Conclusions: For years, the overview of hepatitis C in Poland, observed in epidemiological surveillance, has been determined by the availability of HCV testing. Developing the comfortable testing + treatment system in Poland that reaches people exposed to the current transmission of HCV infection (bearing in mind the possibility of re-infection) is the only possibility of eradication of HCV infections.

Keywords: 2019; HCV; Poland; epidemiology; hepatitis C.