Hepatitis C kills more Americans than any other infectious disease, according to data from two new studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Based on new surveillance data, 19,659 deaths were associated with hepatitis C in 2014 -- an all-time high -- the CDC noted in a May 4 statement. And a related study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases (May 4, 2016) found that annual hepatitis C-related deaths in 2013 were more than the total combined number of deaths from 60 other infectious diseases reported to the CDC, including HIV, pneumococcal disease, and tuberculosis (TB).
Both new studies use data from death certificates, which often underreport hepatitis C, so there were probably even more hepatitis C-related deaths than these numbers show, according to the CDC.
"Why are so many Americans dying of this preventable, curable disease?" stated Jonathan Mermin, MD, director of the CDC National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. "Once hepatitis C testing and treatment are as routine as they are for high cholesterol and colon cancer, we will see people living the long, healthy lives they deserve."
New treatments can cure most hepatitis C infections in two to three months, according to the new CDC report. In fact, antiviral drugs have proved to be effective at treating or eliminating the virus in a study by Torres et al and published in April.
Baby boomers most affected
The majority of hepatitis C infection cases occur in the baby boomers -- those born between 1945 and 1965 -- including many who have had the infection for years but didn't know it. Many baby boomers were infected during medical procedures done after 1945, when injection and blood transfusion protocols were not as safe as they are now, according to a recent study in Lancet Infectious Diseases (February 24, 2016).
Those infected are likely to develop liver cancer and other life-threatening hepatitis C-related diseases without diagnosis and treatment, and they may unknowingly transmit the infection to others.
Approximately 3.5 million Americans now live with hepatitis C, and about half are unaware they are infected. The CDC and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend hepatitis C testing for everyone born between 1945 and 1965, as well as regular testing for people at high risk of developing the disease.
The CDC report also noted an increase in hepatitis C infections among people who inject drugs. The number of people with acute hepatitis C rose to 2,194 in 2014, more than double the number of cases since 2010. Most of the new cases were mostly young, white people who had injected drugs and lived in rural and suburban parts of the Midwest and eastern U.S.
Since hepatitis C often has few noticeable symptoms, the number of new cases is probably much higher than what is reported, stated John Ward, MD, director of the CDC's division of viral hepatitis. He estimates the number of new infections is closer to 30,000 annually.
"We must act now to diagnose and treat hidden infections before they become deadly and to prevent new infections," Dr. Ward said.
