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Evolution over a 10 year period of the epidemiological profile of 1,726 newly diagnosed HCV patients in Belgium by Christiane Gérard; Jean Delwaide; Dolores Vaira; Boris Bastens; Benoît Servais; Etienne Wain; Christian Bataille; Guy Daenen; Jacques Belaïche; the GLEVHE is a Medicine article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Evolution over a 10 year period of the epidemiological profile of 1,726 newly diagnosed HCV patients in Belgium about?

## Abstract In order to evaluate the future burden of hepatitis C, there is a need to quantify the evolution with time of some crucial parameters such as disease frequency and age, modes of infection and infecting genotypes of patients presenting for the first time at consultation. The yearly evolution of these parameters was analyzed retrospectively in a cohort of 1,726 patients living in Belgium, who were diagnosed as hepatitis C virus (HCV) carriers by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) between 1992 and 2002. The epidemiological profile of HCV patients showed significant changes during this period. The number of new patients increased with time. The proportion of patients under 50 increased linearly at a rate of 3% per year. The rate of newly presenting patients infected by transfusion before 1990 decreased, but only by 2.7% per year. The proportion of intravenous (IV) drug users increased by 2.5% per year. Patients presenting “undefined” risk factors increased by 2.1% per year. Nosocomial acquisition of HCV infection exhibited a disturbing relative stability in time whereas dialysis tended to disappear as a cause of infection. There was a significant linear annual decrease of 2.3%

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Author

Christiane Gérard; Jean Delwaide; Dolores Vaira; Boris Bastens; Benoît Servais; Etienne Wain; Christian Bataille; Guy Daenen; Jacques Belaïche; the GLEVHE

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons; Wiley (John Wiley & Sons); John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Wiley; Research Square (ISSN 0146-6615)

Published

2005

Language

EN

Field

Medicine (Health Sciences)