Vigilancia de hepatitis virales en Argentina: Análisis de información obtenida por las Unidades Centinela 2007-2010

Abstract

Recommendations for Hepatitis C screening based on risk factorsfor transmission proved to be ineffcient. Accordingly, the CDC recommended to screen all American individuals born between 1945-1965, based on data from population prevalence of infection. The effectiveness of implementing these recommendations in other contexts and/or populations can be estimated, in principle, knowing the age distribution of infected individuals. There is no data on population prevalence in our country. Yet we can know the age distribution of cases of Hepatitis C who accessed the health system. The aim of this paper is to analyze the distribution by birth cohort ofcases registered as "Hepatitis C" in the Sentinel Units for Viral Hepatitis in the 2007-2014 period. This will contribute to the identification, if any, ofa cohort in which case the recommendation of screening could be addressed, based on risk factors inherent to our country and our epidemiological reality. The age distribution of our cases was wider and younger than those of the population supporting the recommendation of the CDC and this suggests -beyond the difference in the populations being compared- is due to a range of risk factors and age at different infection between USA and Argentina. Thus, based on these results, the recommendation of the Argentine Consensus for Hepatitis C in 2013 to screen all individuals once in life is supported.