North West hepatitis C levels remain highest in UK (From Blackpool Citizen)

North West hepatitis C levels remain highest in UK

5:23pm Wednesday 16th December 2009

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HEPATITIS C diagnoses in the North West are the highest in the country according to the latest Health Protection Agency figures.

More than one fifth of 8,000 cases nationwide (1,679) were diagnosed in the region, meaning the North West has had the highest figures in England since 1999.

Hepatitis C is a viral infection which causes swelling or inflammation of the live and is transmitted when the blood of an infected person mixes with another persons.

Dr Erika Duffell, a hepatitis C expert from the Health Protection Agency, said: “Hepatitis C is a major public health issue in the north west and despite the increase in testing over recent years, many infections remain undiagnosed.”

She said it was important for awareness campaigns to be sustained and enhanced to encourage individuals at risk of infection to be tested and treated.

In the region the HPA model suggests that in six years the estimated burden of illness will be high with 1,086 individuals likely to have cirrhosis and 1,919 individuals to have died because of hepatitis C infections.

Dr Duffell added: “As it is likely that this is an underestimate of the future disease burden, the need to continue strengthening specialist hepatitis C treatment services as well as general hepatology services is considerable.”

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