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Hepatitis C Surveillance in South Australia

Hepatitis C Medical Notification 01/07/00 - 30/09/00

In the third quarter of 2000, 256 medical notifications of hepatitis C infection were received for 144 (56%) males and 112 (44%) females.

Among the notifications, 32 cases were reported as having an earlier positive test (pre-1995), whilst 104 individuals had never been tested before for hepatitis C. In a further 91 cases the testing history was unknown. Of 29 reports of a previous negative test, 13 cases were tested more than 12 months earlier and 16 within the last year. In 160 (71%) instances, past or present injecting drug use was reported as a likely transmission route for hepatitis C virus (Table 2.1).

At diagnosis, the majority of individuals were aged between 20 and 39 years, 84 (66%) males and 61 (61%) females (Table 2.2). Of four males and nine females aged less than twenty years (13 cases), 11 had a history of injecting drug use.

Newly acquired infections - Incident Cases

Incident cases are identified by seroconversion for hepatitis C antibodies in the last 12 months, or a positive test accompanied by acute clinical illness not ascribed to other causes.

Nineteen incident cases were identified during the quarter, 16 had previous negative serology and three were clinical cases. The incident cases comprised 13 males and six females. In all cases the likely mode of transmission for hepatitis C virus was injecting drug use (Table 2.3). At diagnosis most were 20 to 29 years of age, one case was less than 20 years. (Table 2.4).

Collated laboratory data for hepatitis C antibody tests performed during the quarter are shown in Table 2.5.

Table 2.1 Hepatitis C infection, 01/07/00 - 30/09/00 and year to date.
Exposure category by sex.

^{1 Includes IDU in combination with other categories.
2 Residence/medical treatment in a high prevalence country.
3 Includes possible occupational exposure; household, perinatal & sexual transmission; body piercing/ acupuncture.}

Table 2.2 Hepatitis C infection, 01/07/00 - 30/09/00 and year to date.
                Age group by sex.

Table 2.3 Newly acquired hepatitis C infection (Incident cases*), 
                01/07/00 - 30/09/00 and year to date. Exposure category by sex.

^{* Incident cases are newly acquired infections, see text.}

Table 2.4  Newly acquired infections (Incident cases*) of hepatitis C infection, 
                01/07/00 - 30/09/00 and year to date. Age group by sex.

^{* Incident cases are newly acquired infections, see text.}

Table 2.5 Summary of laboratory tests for hepatitis C antibodies,
               01/07/00 - 30/09/00 and year to date. Laboratory by sex.

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