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Review
. 2014 Mar;104(3):482-7.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301601. Epub 2014 Jan 16.

Estimating acute viral hepatitis infections from nationally reported cases

R Monina Klevens  1 , Stephen Liu, Henry Roberts, Ruth B Jiles, Scott D Holmberg
Affiliations
Review

Estimating acute viral hepatitis infections from nationally reported cases

R Monina Klevens et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: Because only a fraction of patients with acute viral hepatitis A, B, and C are reported through national surveillance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we estimated the true numbers.

Methods: We applied a simple probabilistic model to estimate the fraction of patients with acute hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C who would have been symptomatic, would have sought health care tests, and would have been reported to health officials in 2011.

Results: For hepatitis A, the frequencies of symptoms (85%), care seeking (88%), and reporting (69%) yielded an estimate of 2730 infections (2.0 infections per reported case). For hepatitis B, the frequencies of symptoms (39%), care seeking (88%), and reporting (45%) indicated 18 730 infections (6.5 infections per reported case). For hepatitis C, the frequency of symptoms among injection drug users (13%) and those infected otherwise (48%), proportion seeking care (88%), and percentage reported (53%) indicated 17 100 infections (12.3 infections per reported case).

Conclusions: These adjustment factors will allow state and local health authorities to estimate acute hepatitis infections locally and plan prevention activities accordingly.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Steps used to estimate new infections of viral hepatitis among adults: United States, 2011.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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