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. 2015 Jul 24;64(28):758-62.
doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6428a3.

Viral Hepatitis Surveillance--India, 2011-2013

Tripurari Kumar, Aakash Shrivastava, Anil Kumar, Kayla F Laserson, Jai P Narain, Srinivasaraghavan Venkatesh, Lakhbir S Chauhan, Francisco Averhoff

Viral Hepatitis Surveillance--India, 2011-2013

Tripurari Kumar et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

The burden of viral hepatitis in India is not well characterized. In 2009, the national Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) began conducting surveillance across all Indian states for epidemic-prone diseases, including foodborne and waterborne forms of viral hepatitis (e.g., hepatitis A and E). Information on outbreaks of all forms of viral hepatitis, including A, B, C, and E, also is collected. This report summarizes viral hepatitis surveillance and outbreak data reported to IDSP during 2011-2013. During this period, 804,782 hepatitis cases and 291 outbreaks were reported; the virus type was unspecified in 92% of cases. Among 599,605 cases tested for hepatitis A, 44,663 (7.4%) were positive, and among 187,040 tested for hepatitis E, 19,508 (10.4%) were positive. At least one hepatitis outbreak report was received from 23 (66%) of 35 Indian states. Two-thirds of outbreaks were reported from rural areas. Among 163 (56%) outbreaks with known etiology, 78 (48%) were caused by hepatitis E, 54 (33%) by hepatitis A, 19 (12%) by both hepatitis A and E, and 12 (7%) by hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Contaminated drinking water was the source of most outbreaks. Improvements in water quality and sanitation as well as inclusion of hepatitis A vaccine in childhood immunization programs should be considered to reduce the public health burden of hepatitis in India. Efforts to decrease the proportion of cases for which the etiology is unspecified, including expanding the IDSP to support hepatitis B and C testing, might help further elucidate the epidemiology of these diseases.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Number of hepatitis cases reported, number tested, and number confirmed for hepatitis A and hepatitis E* — India, 2011–2013 * Nos. of cases tested for hepatitis A and E are not mutually exclusive.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Total number of hepatitis cases reported and number laboratory-confirmed as hepatitis A and hepatitis E, by surveillance weeks — India, 2011–2013
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Number of reported hepatitis outbreaks (N = 291), by state — India, 2011–2013
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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