Prevalence and undiagnosed fraction of hepatitis C infection in 2018 in Spain: results from a national population-based survey

Abstract

Background: A national strategy against hepatitis C virus (HCV) was implemented in Spain in 2015 with the aim of reducing associated morbidity and mortality. In order to improve our understanding of the epidemiology of HCV, we analysed the prevalence of HCV antibodies and active infection overall and by age and sex in the general population aged 20-80 years. We also aimed to report the undiagnosed fraction. Methods: A national population-based seroprevalence survey was conducted in 2017-2018. A representative sample from the general population was selected using two-stage sampling. The prevalence of total HCV antibodies and of HCV RNA was calculated using inverse probability weighting based on bootstrapping. Results: Overall, we approached 17 496 persons; 9103 agreed to participate and met the eligibility criteria and 7675 were aged 20-80. We obtained a prevalence of HCV antibodies of 0.85% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64-1.08%] and of active infection of 0.22% (95% CI: 0.12-0.32%). The prevalence of active HCV infection was highest in men aged 50-59 (0.86%; 95% CI: 0.28-1.57%) and in men aged 60-69 years (0.72%; 95% CI: 0.27-1.28%). Prevalence was below 0.20% in the remaining age groups. The undiagnosed fraction for active HCV infection was 29.4%. Conclusion: This study shows that prevalence of HCV in the general population in Spain is low and reflects the impact of scaling up treatment with direct acting antivirals, together with other prevention strategies, from 2015 onwards. The data reported can guide subsequent public health actions.