Some 90% of people with hepatitis B infection remain undiagnosed, experts say today.
This applies to 80% of those infected in the UK and two thirds of those in the USA, according to a study in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
The experts say that just 5% of eligible patients get treatment, including 25% of those in the UK while the proportion treated varies hugely across Europe. In Finland it is 95% while in Belgium it is 3% and in Ireland, Norway and Portugal 5%.
According to the study, some 1.8 million children of the age of five were infected in 2016 in spite of progress in extending child vaccination.
Five large countries account for 57% of all infections, according to the report. These are China, India, Nigeria, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Researcher Dr Homie Razavi, from the Center for Disease Analysis Foundation, Lafayette, Colorado, USA, said: “We have all the tools necessary to eliminate HBV.
“Our estimates highlight an enormous opportunity for effective screening, diagnosis, and treatment to substantially reduce the numbers of new infections in all countries by 2030. But we must accelerate efforts across the board.”
Writing in the journal Professor Geoffrey Dusheiko and Dr Kosh Agarwal from UCL Medical School and Kings College Hospital, London, UK, say: “The incidence of new chronic HBV infections will continue to increase unless appropriate prevention at birth is applied, and deaths will increase in unvaccinated adults unless large increases in screening and linkage to care are implemented.
“However, large-scale structural changes might not be required if existing HIV services are utilised.”
Global prevalence, treatment, and prevention of hepatitis B virus infection in 2016: a modelling study The Polaris Observatory Collaborators. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology 27 March 2018
Link: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(18)30056-6/fulltext
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