This Hepatitis B and C in Australia Annual Surveillance Report Supplement 2016 provides an overview of trends in diagnoses, prevalence, incidence, morbidity, care, testing and prevention of hepatitis B and C viral infections. Hepatitis A, D and E are not included in this report, but information about these infections can be found on the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System website.
The report is divided into two sections: the first section focuses on hepatitis C, and presents data from a range of sources from 2006 – 2015; within this section there is also a focus on the new direct acting antiviral treatments for hepatitis C infection, which presents data from March to July 2016. The second section focuses on hepatitis B, and also presents data from 2006 – 2015. Diagnosis and care cascades are presented for both hepatitis B and C, and a range of data are used to produce these estimates. Further details on how cascade estimates are generated can be found in the Methodological Notes.
The Supplement was produced to coincide with the 2016 Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference and to provide a timely update on the roll out of hepatitis C direct acting antiviral treatments in Australia. With the World Health Organization calling for the elimination of hepatitis B and C by 2030, this report provides vital information on progress and gaps in the Australian response.
Key findings
- In 2014, there were 10,790 notifications of hepatitis C, with the highest rate of notification in the 25 – 39 year age group.
- The rate of hepatitis C notification in Australia has remained stable in the last four years (2012 – 15), following a 22% decline between 2006 and 2011. A similar trend has been seen in all age groups.
- There were a total of 6 502 notifications of newly diagnosed hepatitis B infection in Australia in 2015.
- Over the ten year period 2006 – 2015, the population rate of notification of hepatitis B infection has declined in Australia in younger age groups, reflecting the impact of the infant and adolescent vaccination program, but remained high in the 25 – 29 and 30 – 39 year age groups. The declining trend in overall notifications in younger age groups was similar to that of notifications of newly acquired hepatitis B infection.
