Risk Management

HCV Death Rates Are Still High in Some US Regions, Populations

Although curative therapy has helped to decrease the overall death rates associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV), some regions of the United States and some demographics are still highly affected, according to new data.

“In 2016-2017, the national HCV-associated mortality declined but rates remained high in the Western and Southern regions and Washington, DC, and among [non-Hispanic] American Indians/Alaska Natives, [non-Hispanic] Blacks, and Baby Boomers,” the researchers wrote. “These data can inform local prevention and control programs to reduce the HCV mortality burden.”

To better understand HCV-related mortality on a subnational level, the researchers assessed US multiple cause-of-death data from 2016 to 2017 obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research and the National Vital Statistics System.

Data from 10 US regions, 50 states, and Washington, DC, were included in the analysis.

Overall, 17,253 HCV-related deaths were reported in 2017. The overall death rate for 2017 in the United States was 4.13 deaths/100,000 standard population. This is a significant decrease from 2016, which the death rate was 4.42 deaths/100,000 standard population.

The age-adjusted death rates in the following 12 jurisdictions surpassed the overall US death rate:

  • Oklahoma (2.87)
  • Washington, DC (2.77)
  • Oregon (2.24)
  • New Mexico (1.62)
  • Louisiana 1.57)
  • Texas (1.46)
  • Colorado (1.36)
  • California (1.35)
  • Kentucky (1.35)
  • Tennessee (1.35)
  • Arizona (1.32)
  • Washington (1.32)

 

“The observed geographic discordances in death rates may be affected by parallel discordances in prevalence,” the researchers concluded “However, because of the limitations of current prevalence data, we cannot definitively confirm this.”

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Ly KN, Miniño AM, Liu SJ, et al. Deaths associated with hepatitis C virus infection among residents in 50 states and the District of Columbia, 2016–2017. Clin Infect Dis. 2020;71(5):1149-1160. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciz976