Prevalence and outcome of post-transfusion hepatitis C acquired at different ages and detected in look-back screening.
OBJECTIVES
The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Sweden is estimated to 0.5%. Before 1992, blood transfusion posed a risk of HCV transmission. The primary aim of this study was to estimate anti-HCV prevalence in Stockholm County among individuals receiving blood transfusions 1965-1991. The secondary aim was to study the effect of age at transfusion on the development of liver disease and treatment outcome.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
This is a retrospective analysis of individuals found to be anti-HCV tested positive in Stockholm County during a national screening campaign in Sweden 2008-2010. All anti-HCV-positive individuals were also HCV RNA tested. Data on age at transfusion, age at diagnosis, HCV genotype, viral load, fibrosis score, liver histology and antiviral treatment were recorded.


RESULTS
Out of 7473, 134 (1.8%) tested individuals were anti-HCV positive and 102 were HCV RNA positive resulting in a prevalence of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) of 1.4%. The rate of advanced liver damage was 18% (10/56). Patients younger than 19 years of age at transfusion were significantly more often started on antiviral treatment compared to adult patients, 65% vs 29% p < .001. No significant correlation was found between treatment outcome and gender or age at transfusion.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we found an anti-HCV prevalence of 1.8% which is considerably higher than the estimated prevalence in the Swedish general population (0.5%), and patients infected during childhood were more likely to receive antiviral treatment. Additional data on the HCV epidemic in Sweden are needed regarding prevalence and age distribution.
['Millbourn|Charlotta|C|', 'Psaros Einberg|Afrodite|A|', 'Lindh|Gudrun|G|', 'Hökeberg|Ingegerd|I|', 'Fischler|Björn|B|', 'Lindahl|Karin|K|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D017668:Age of Onset D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D000998:Antiviral Agents D001803:Blood Transfusion D002648:Child D002675:Child, Preschool D005260:Female D005355:Fibrosis D016174:Hepacivirus D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic D006801:Humans D007223:Infant D007231:Infant, Newborn D008099:Liver D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D015995:Prevalence D012367:RNA, Viral D012189:Retrospective Studies D000072230:Sustained Virologic Response D013548:Sweden D019562:Viral Load D055815:Young Adult
prevalence Hepatitis C blood transfusion anti-viral treatment virus infection