Screening a nation for hepatitis C virus elimination: a cross-sectional study on prevalence of hepatitis C and associated risk factors in the Rwandan general population

ObjectivesWe analysed data collected during programmatic screening activities conducted in 2017 to describe hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence in the general population and identify associated factors.DesignWe analysed data collected between June and September 2017. For both seroprevalence and v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ open 2019-07, Vol.9 (7), p.e029743
Main Authors: Umutesi, Justine, Liu, Carol Yingkai, Penkunas, Michael J, Makuza, Jean Damascene, Ntihabose, Corneille K, Umuraza, Sabine, Niyikora, Julienne, Serumondo, Janvier, Gupta, Neil, Nsanzimana, Sabin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cross-sectional studies
Epidemiology
Genotype & phenotype
Hepatitis
Hepatitis C
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus
Infections
Infectious Diseases
Interferon
Liver
Mortality
Population
Public health
Risk factors
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Summary:ObjectivesWe analysed data collected during programmatic screening activities conducted in 2017 to describe hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence in the general population and identify associated factors.DesignWe analysed data collected between June and September 2017. For both seroprevalence and viraemia, variations across demographic and geographic factors were assessed and multivariate regression models were fit to identify factors independently associated with each marker. Geospatial data were examined for visualisation.SettingHCV screening was organised within each of the 30 districts in Rwanda. One designated location in each district was selected as the screening site and screening took place for 1 week at each site.ParticipantsThis study included 124 223 male and female volunteers. Anti-HCV-positive individuals were followed up with HCV RNA viral load (VL) testing for infection confirmation.Main outcome measuresTwo markers were examined: the presence of HCV antibodies and HCV RNA VL.ResultsAmong 124 223 individuals screened, 11 003 (8.86%, 95% CIs: 8.70% to 9.02%) were positive for anti-HCV. Anti-HCV prevalence varied by age with the oldest age group (>55 year olds) having a prevalence of 16.46% (95% CIs: 16.14% to 16.80%) and the youngest age group (
ISSN:2044-6055
2044-6055
DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029743