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. 2023 Sep 15;228(6):684-693.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiad064. Epub 2023 Mar 18.

Nationwide Hepatitis C Serosurvey and Progress Towards Hepatitis C Virus Elimination in the Country of Georgia, 2021

Amiran Gamkrelidze  1 , Shaun Shadaker  2 , Maia Tsereteli  1 , Maia Alkhazashvili  1 , Nazibrola Chitadze  1 , Irina Tskhomelidze  3 , Lia Gvinjilia  4 , Nino Khetsuriani  5 , Senad Handanagic  2 , Francisco Averhoff  6   7 , Gavin Cloherty  6   7 , Giorgi Chakhunashvili  1 , Jan Drobeniuc  2 , Paata Imnadze  1 , Khatuna Zakhashvili  1 , Paige A Armstrong  2
Affiliations

Nationwide Hepatitis C Serosurvey and Progress Towards Hepatitis C Virus Elimination in the Country of Georgia, 2021

Amiran Gamkrelidze et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: The country of Georgia initiated its hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination program in 2015, at which point a serosurvey showed the adult prevalence of HCV antibody (anti-HCV) and HCV RNA to be 7.7% and 5.4%, respectively. This analysis reports hepatitis C results of a follow-up serosurvey conducted in 2021, and progress towards elimination.

Methods: The serosurvey used a stratified, multistage cluster design with systematic sampling to include adults and children (aged 5-17 years) providing consent (or assent with parental consent). Blood samples were tested for anti-HCV and if positive, HCV RNA. Weighted proportions and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were compared with 2015 age-adjusted estimates.

Results: Overall, 7237 adults and 1473 children were surveyed. Among adults, the prevalence of anti-HCV was 6.8% (95% CI, 5.9-7.7). The HCV RNA prevalence was 1.8% (95% CI, 1.3-2.4), representing a 67% reduction since 2015. HCV RNA prevalence decreased among those reporting risk factors of ever injecting drugs (51.1% to 17.8%), and ever receiving a blood transfusion (13.1% to 3.8%; both P < .001). No children tested positive for anti-HCV or HCV RNA.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate substantial progress made in Georgia since 2015. These findings can inform strategies to meet HCV elimination targets.

Keywords: Georgia; elimination; hepatitis C; prevalence; serosurvey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. F. A. and G. C. are employed by and own stock in Abbott Diagnostics. All other authors report no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA positivity with 95% confidence intervals by age group among adults in nationwide hepatitis C serosurveys—Georgia, 2015 and 2021. The 2015 data were age-adjusted by adding 6 years to participants’ ages.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA positivity with 95% confidence intervals by risk factors among adults in nationwide hepatitis C serosurveys—Georgia, 2015 and 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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