Trends in new diagnoses of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in Amsterdam

The Netherlands is a low-endemic country for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), with national estimates of 0.4% for chronic HBV and 0.2% for chronic HCV. There are groups in which HBV and HCV occur more frequently due to the level of risk behavior and/or risk factors, including sexual behavior or because they originate from a high-endemic country for HBV or HCV. The World Health Organization has set the goal of reducing the number of new HBV and HCV infections by 90 percent and the mortality from these diseases by 65 percent by 2030. Progress is being made, also in the Netherlands, but it is expected that too many people will remain undiagnosed. In addition, the progress of actions to prevent HBV and HCV is under pressure due to dynamic populations and declining political support. The GGDs have limited resources for HBV and HCV prevention actions, and it is unclear which migrant groups should be reached for screening and HBV vaccination. Therefore, to make future actions more selective and efficient, it is necessary to gain more insight into which migrant groups (and with which demographic characteristics) have an increased risk of HBV and HCV, and whether the trends of the notifications show correlations with migration patterns. These insights help the infectious disease teams to develop preventive actions among migrant groups in a more targeted manner.

In this study we analyse the trends in new diagnoses for acute and chronic HBV and HCV in the Public Health Service (PHS) region of Amsterdam. In addition, we provide an overview of recent migration patterns and testing provision in the PHS region of Amsterdam, to potentially support the interpretation of trends and for action perspectives regarding future interventions

This is a retrospective quantitative study with an analysis of existing surveillance data, using: 
1. Surveillance data from the registration system of the GGD Amsterdam (GLIMS) on HBV and HCV reports and data from the source and contact investigation (BCO) 
2. Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) on population numbers 
3. Data from Aphrodite (surveillance system of the Centre for Sexual Health) on the number of test requests, and other overviews on the additional test offer (‘outreach’ and other initiatives) in the Amsterdam region

N.A.

Low, this is a retrospective study. We conducted a Data Protection Impact Assessment.