TY - JOUR
TI - Public health issues of hepatitis C virus infection
AU - Papatheodoridis, George
AU - Hatzakis, Angelos
JO - Best Practice and Research Clinical Gastroenterology
PY - 2012
VL - 26
TODO - 4
SP - 371-380
PB - Elsevier Sci Ltd, Exeter, United Kingdom
SN - 1521-6918
TODO - 10.1016/j.bpg.2012.09.012
TODO - Hepatitis C; Prevalence; Incidence; Transmission; Screening; Barriers to
therapy
TODO - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of liver disease worldwide,
as 130-170 million individuals are chronically infected and 350,000
patients die every year from HCV infection. The HCV prevalence varies
widely among countries being highest in several African and Eastern
Mediterranean countries. The incidence of new HCV infections may be
declining in developed countries, but there is still a large reservoir
of chronic infections. The most important mode of HCV transmission has
been injecting drug use in developed countries with low prevalence and
unsafe therapeutic injections in developing countries with moderate-high
prevalence. Since there are no systematic screening policies, most
patients remain undiagnosed. Even among diagnosed patients, a minority
receives treatment due to several barriers to therapy. Given the high
efficacy of treatment, public health authorities should recognise the
importance of HCV and make resources available for the implementation of
effective primary prevention, screening and management policies. (c)
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ER -