The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) released new estimates on the acute and chronic cases of
hepatitis A, B and C:
Hepatitis A (HAV):
2013: Estimated acute cases and deaths from hepatitis A
-
Acute: 3,500–range: 2,500 to 3,900
-
Deaths: 80 (underlying contributing cause of death in most recent year available (2013))
Hepatitis B (HBV):
2013: Estimated acute, chronic and deaths from hepatitis B
-
Acute: 19,800—range: 11,300 to 48,500
-
Chronic: 700,000 to 1.4 million
-
Deaths: 1,873
Hepatitis C (HCV):
2013: Estimated acute, chronic and deaths from hepatitis C
-
Acute: 29,700—range: 23,500 to 101,400
-
Chronic: 2.7 to 3.9 million
-
Deaths: 19,368*
NOTE: Current information
indicates these represent a fraction of deaths attributable in whole or
in part to chronic hepatitis C.”
Editorial Comments: The good news
is that vaccination against hepatitis A and B and education efforts
are working to keep new infections, chronic infections and deaths
consistent with previous years. Hepatitis A and B are in line with what
have been previously reported and rates of new infections have leveled
off. I personally believe that hepatitis B may be under reported
especially in some larger populations of immigrants who may be infected
with hepatitis B. Furthermore, we may not know the extent of chronic
hepatitis B in the undocumented immigrant population.
HCV however, seems be getting worse. The range of
acute HCV population is much likely higher since we really don’t have
an effective surveillance system in our country. We have had large
outbreaks of acute HCV in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Indiana
and elsewhere. I also believe the number of people with chronic
hepatitis C is much higher and the deaths caused by hepatitis C is
certainly higher. The CDC has a * (see note) that
captures the deaths which are most likely under reported. Many times a
death reported on a death certificate is listed as another cause when
HCV or cirrhosis, liver cancer or a consequence of HCV may be listed
instead.
On a sad note, the age group that had the highest
rate of death was the 55 to 64 year old group with 51% of the total
number of deaths—this is very young age for such a high death rate.
http://hcvadvocate.org/news/newsLetter/2015/advocate0615.html#4Labels: Acute, CDC, chronic, HAV, HBV, HCV, statistics, viral hepatitis numbers