Hepatitis C Infection Patterns at a Tertiary Care Center: A Cross-sectional Study: 1124

Introduction: In the United States, 2.7 to 3.9 million patients are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) with 3500 new cases reported yearly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HCV was the underlying or contributing cause of death of 19,659 patients in 2014.These facts underscore the need for a better understanding of the scope of this disease. Our epidemiologic study aimed at analyzing the pattern of occurrence of HCV infection at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), by evaluating the characteristics of newly infected patients with hepatitis C in 2014.The identified features served to better distinguish the targets for preventive healthcare in our particular population. Methods: A cross sectional study of all newly diagnosed patients with HCV infections in the year 2014, presenting to SIUH was conducted using ICD 9 codes for hepatitis C. We included all patients with positive HCV antibody confirmed by an affirmative PCR testing. Patients were divided into different age groups: 0-19, 20-29 etc, simulating the age groups design in the New York City Department of Health annual report 2014.Gender and HCV genotypes were also collected. Difference in disease frequency between age groups, gender and genotype were compared to the NYC report. Results: A total of 378 newly diagnosed HCV cases were identified, 60.05% and 39.95% were respectively males and females. The rate of infection with Genotype 1a was the highest (36.5%) followed by 1b (25.9%). In women, Genotype 1b was predominant (13.76%) versus genotype 1a as the most common in men(Fig 1). Mean age for male patients was 53.6 years and for females 56.9 years.The majority of cases fell into the age group of 60-69 (32.28%) followed by age group 50-59 (31.48%). More so, all patients 80 years and older were exclusively females(Fig 2&3).Figure: Percentage of HCV genotypes by gender.Figure: Percentage of new HCV cases by age group.Figure: Percentage of HCV genotypes by age group.Conclusion: A specific finding of this study is that most new HCV infections at SIUH were diagnosed in the 60-69 age group as compared to the NYC report where majority of newly diagnosed cases were 40-59 year old. Another peculiar observation is that all HCV infections detected at older than 80 years of age were females.This is commensurate with a reported lower HCV-related mortality in women compared to men according to the 2014 NYC DOH report (36.2% vs. 63.8% respectively). Increased awareness and strict adherence to screening policies in baby boomers and high risk populations are paramount in order to diagnose early, offer therapy and prevent HCV related mortality and morbidity.