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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence estimation in the adult general population in Belgium : a meta-analysis.
- Source :
-
Acta gastro-enterologica Belgica [Acta Gastroenterol Belg] 2019 Oct-Dec; Vol. 82 (4), pp. 479-485. - Publication Year :
- 2019
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Abstract
- Background and Study Aims: Although multiple HCV prevalence studies were recently performed in the general population from Belgium, they suffer from a lack of geographical representativeness, an insufficient number of participants or a lack of inclusion of high prevalence groups. The aim of this study is to provide robust information on the HCV burden.<br />Methods: Recently performed HCV prevalence studies in the general, adult population were included in this study, based on well-defined selection criteria. A meta-analysis was performed to estimate the seroprevalence, the prevalence of participants with viremia and the prevalence estimation for people with viremia which were unaware of their status.<br />Results: Eight studies fulfilled the criteria for inclusion of the quantitative prevalence estimation. Based on the meta-analysis on these 8 studies, we estimated an HCV seroprevalence of 1.01% [95% CI : 0.66-1.42%], representing a total of 90,722 adult, HCV seropositives of which 64,412 individuals (0.71%) were confirmed seropositive. Based on the RNA presence, an estimated viremic prevalence of 0.33% [95% CI : 0.21-0.47 %] was determined, corresponding with 29,642 individuals. This is 46,0% of the true HCV seropositive residents. Further, based on the availability of patient information in 5 out of the 8 studies, a prevalence of 0.18% [95% CI : 0.07-0.33] representing 16,168 individuals from the adult Belgian population are unaware of their HCV status.<br />Conclusions: We believe that the quantitative measurement by the meta-analysis will be more reliable for their use in the design of a screening strategy or in the development of prevention campaigns as compared to the prevalence estimations performed at local level.<br /> (© Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1784-3227
- Volume :
- 82
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Acta gastro-enterologica Belgica
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 31950802