2.5 million people with hepatitis in Europe – Science & Technology

(ANSA) – MILAN – For the first time in Europe, a study from the University of Milan-Bicocca has tracked incidence, prevalence, mortality and life lost to disability in diseases associated with hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus (Dalys). 2010-2019.
“Hepatitis B and C in Europe: An update to the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study” was published in The Lancet Public Health, with lead author Paolo Angelo Cortesi, a researcher at Cesp della Bicocca, who drew on the Global Burden of Disease The Collaborative Burden of Disease, Injury, and Risk Factors Study, coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
In 2019, more than 2 million cases of acute hepatitis B and almost half a million cases of hepatitis C occurred in Europe.
The estimated prevalence of HBV (hepatitis B virus)-related cirrhosis was 8.24 million cases and HCV (hepatitis C virus) cases were 11.87 million, with nearly 25,000 deaths from HBV-related cirrhosis. HBV and approximately 37,000 deaths from HCV-related cirrhosis. Ultimately, 9,000 people died from HBV-related liver cancer and 23,000 from HCV-related liver cancer.
“Between 2010 and 2019, the burden of cirrhosis due to HBV and HCV decreased,” explained Cesp directors Paolo Cortesi and Lorenzo Mantovani.
He added that the declines in hepatitis B-related cirrhosis and acute hepatitis B were most pronounced, with a -20.6% decline in prevalence, a -33.19% decline in first-disease mortality, and a -22.14% decline in incidence, No. The mortality rate of the two diseases decreased by -33.27%.
Standardized and Dalys incidence, prevalence, and mortality rates for HBV and HCV-associated liver cancer were unchanged over ten years, while the absolute number of cases increased in all age groups, with a 16.41% increase in prevalence.”
Cortesi and Mantovani said the findings “highlight the significant and ongoing health burden associated with HBV and HCV in Europe, suggesting that the ambitious 2030 elimination target remains far from being achieved.” (ANSA).