Features of changes in the age structure of newly diagnosed chronic hepatitis C in the Samara region

Abstract

The urgency of the problem of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) is determined by the increasing incidence and severe consequences of infection in the form of cirrhosis and liver cancer. In the Russian Federation, the epidemiological situation of viral hepatitis is characterized by a relatively high incidence and mortality associated with hepatitis C, which determines the need to search for contingents for which it is necessary to purposefully carry out preventive and anti-epidemic measures. The aim of the work is to conduct a comparative analysis of the incidence of chronic hepatitis C in the Samara region in 1997–2021 and to characterize the dynamics of changes in the age composition of patients with chronic hepatitis C. To analyze the incidence of newly diagnosed chronic hepatitis C in the Russian Federation and the Samara Region, data from official statistics of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being, the Office of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being in the Samara Region were used. The study established a significant contribution of HCV to the structure of newly diagnosed chronic hepatitis and high incidence rates both in the Russian Federation and in the Samara region. In the studied region, the presence of changes in the contribution of various age groups to the structure of HCV cases over the years was revealed, expressed in an increase in the proportion of persons under the age of 2 years, 30–39 years and 60 years and older and a decrease in the proportion of adolescents 15–19 years and children 7–10 and 11–14 years. The identified features allow us to outline directions for adjusting preventive and anti-epidemic measures aimed at reducing the burden of HCV in the region.