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Hepatitis C Surveillance in South Australia

Hepatitis C Medical Notification 01/07/99 - 30/09/99

In the third quarter of 1999, medical notifications of hepatitis C infection were received for 333 individuals, 201 (60%) males and 132 (40%) females.

Among the notifications, 267 (80%) individuals were newly diagnosed with hepatitis C infection during 1999. Of these, 120 had never been tested before for hepatitis C; in a further 107 cases the testing history was unknown. Forty cases reported a previous negative test, 25 were tested more than 12 months earlier, whilst 15 were tested within the last year.

On 191 (72%) notifications, past or present injecting drug use was reported as the likely transmission route for hepatitis C virus (Table 2.1). The age range at diagnosis for most males was 20 to 49 years, 145 (89%); 62 (59%) females were aged between 20 and 39 years (Table 2.2).

Incident Cases

Nineteen incident cases were identified during the quarter, 15 had negative serology in the previous 12 months. The incident cases comprised seven females and 12 males. The probable mode of transmission for hepatitis C virus was injecting drug use in 17 cases (Table 2.3). The most common age-group at diagnosis was 20 to 29 years (Table 2.4).

Collated laboratory data for hepatitis C antibody tests are shown in Table 2.5.

Table 2.1 Hepatitis C infection, 01/07/99 - 30/09/99 and year to date.
Exposure category by sex.
Exposure category	3rd Quarter 01/07/99 - 30/09/99		Year to date 01/01/99 - 30/09/99
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Total
IDU*	120	71	375	189	564
Blood transfusion/products	7	8	28	22	50
Tattoos	3	4	33	9	42
Other**	2	4	12	19	31
High prevalence country***	12	9	26	19	45
Unknown	18	9	40	28	68
Total	162	105	514	286	800

* includes IDU in combination with other categories.
** includes - body piercing, acupuncture, household contact, positive sexual partner.
*** residence/medical treatment in a high prevalence country

Table 2.2 Hepatitis C infection, 01/07/99 - 30/09/99 and year to date.
Age group by sex.
Age group (years)	3rd Quarter 01/07/99 - 30/09/99		Year to date 01/01/99 - 30/09/99
Age group (years)	Male	Female	Male	Female	Total
10 - 19	3	8	13	17	30
20 - 29	45	35	141	91	232
30 - 39	50	27	181	94	275
40 - 49	50	24	134	55	189
> 50	14	11	45	29	74
Total	162	105	514	286	800

Table 2.3 Incident cases of hepatitis C infection, 01/07/99 - 30/09/99
and year to date. Exposure category by sex.
Exposure category	3rd Quarter 01/07/99 - 30/09/99		Year to date 01/01/99 - 30/09/99
Exposure category	Male	Female	Male	Female	Total
IDU	10	7	37	14	51
Partner positive	-	-	1	-	1
Unknown	2	-	3	-	3
Total	12	7	41	14	55

Table 2.4 Incident cases of hepatitis C infection, 01/07/99 - 30/09/99
and year to date. Age group by sex.
Age group (years)	3rd Quarter 01/07/99 - 30/09/99		Year to date 01/01/99 - 30/09/99
Age group (years)	Male	Female	Male	Female	Total
15 - 19	1	1	3	3	6
20 - 29	8	5	29	7	36
30 - 39	1	-	6	2	8
> 40	2	1	3	2	5
Total	12	7	41	14	55

Table 2.5 Summary of laboratory tests for hepatitis C antibodies,
01/07/99 - 30/09/99 and year to date. Laboratory by sex.
Laboratory	3rd Quarter 01/07/99 - 30/09/99			Year to date 01/01/99 - 30/09/99
	Male	Female	Unknown	Male	Female	Unknown	Total
Public	5171	5378	52	14915	15621	161	30697
Private	4499	3993	-	12715	14386	-	27101
Total	9670	9371	52	46970	49347	161	76540

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Related Pages

Hepatitis C Surveillance in South Australia

Incident Cases