IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.2015.302591_4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decreasing hepatitis C incidence among a population with repeated tests: British Columbia, Canada, 1993-2011

Author

Listed:
  • Kuo, M.
  • Janjua, N.Z.
  • Burchell, A.N.
  • Buxton, J.A.
  • Krajden, M.
  • Gilbert, M.

Abstract

Objectives. We estimated HCV incidence among individuals who repeatedly underwent anti-HCV testing. Methods. We studied HCV-negative individuals who had at least 2 tests between April 1992 and September 2012 in British Columbia, Canada. We calculated incidence as the number of new infections per 100 person-years at risk. Results. From 1992 to 2012, 323 598 individuals who persistently tested negative and 7490 HCV seroconverters contributed 1 774 262 person-years of observation time. Incidence rates ranged from 2.66 infections per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.07, 3.35) in 1993 to 0.25 infections per 100 person-years (95% CI = 0.21, 0.29) in 2011. Rates declined sharply in the 1990s and declined more gradually in the 2000s. Incidence declined with age; highest incidence rates were among those aged 15 to 24 years. Incidence among male repeat testers exceeded that of female repeat testers across all years, although the gap narrowed over time. Conclusions. Addictions treatment, harm reduction, prevention education, and novel initiatives to remove barriers in health infrastructure need to be intensified for those who inject drugs, particularly men and younger persons. © 2015, American Public Health Association Inc. All rights reserved.

Suggested Citation

  • Kuo, M. & Janjua, N.Z. & Burchell, A.N. & Buxton, J.A. & Krajden, M. & Gilbert, M., 2015. "Decreasing hepatitis C incidence among a population with repeated tests: British Columbia, Canada, 1993-2011," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(8), pages 1604-1610.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302591_4
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302591
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302591
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302591?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302591_4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.