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National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, 2004
Annual report
The notifi cation rates for incident hepatitis C declined
from 2001 to 2004 by 62 per cent in the 15–19 year
age group, 60 per cent in the 20–29 year age
group and 50 per cent in the 30–39 year age group
(Figure 12).
Figure 12. Trends in notification rates of incident
hepatitis C infections, Australia, 1997 to 2004, by
age group
Rate per 100,000 population
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Year
0-14
15-19
20-29
30-39
The exposure history of cases of incident hepatitis C
was collected in the Australian Capital Territory,
South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western
Australia in 2004 (Table 6). At least 70 per cent of
incident hepatitis C infections in 2004 were among
injecting drug users.
In 2004, an estimated 259,570 people were living
with hepatitis C in Australia. Of these 65,300 people
cleared their infection, 153,300 had chronic hepatitis
C and early liver disease (stage 0/1), 32,800
had chronic hepatitis C infection and moderate
liver disease (stage 2/3) and 8,160 were living with
hepatitis C related cirrhosis. 2
Table 6. Incident hepatitis C infection,
Australia,* 2004, by exposure category
40+
Hepatitis C (unspecified) notifications
Case defi nition – Hepatitis C (unspecifi ed)
Only confirmed cases are reported.
Confirmed case: Requires detection of antihepatitis
C antibody or detection of hepatitis C
virus in a case who does not meet any of the
criteria for a newly acquired case and is aged
more than 24 months.
National notifi cation rates of hepatitis C (unspecifi
ed) infection ranged between 96 and 104 cases
per 100,000 population in 1995–2001. The national
rate declined to 81.3 in 2002 and to 63.7 cases per
100,000 population in 2004 (Figure 10). Improved
surveillance practice, such as better classifi cation
of incident cases and increased duplicate checking
may account for some of the decrease in hepatitis C
(unspecifi ed) notifi cations.
In 2004, 12,667 hepatitis C (unspecifi ed) infections
were notifi ed to NNDSS, giving a notifi cation rate of
63 cases per 100,000 population. Of the total notifi -
cations of hepatitis C (unspecifi ed), 39 per cent were
from New South Wales, but the Northern Territory
had the highest notifi cation rate (135.6 cases per
100,000 population). The male to female ratio was
1.6:1. The highest reporting rates were in the 35–39
year age group for males (164 cases per 100,000
population), and in the 25–29 year age group for
females (114.2 cases per 100,000 population,
Figure 13).
Figure 13. Notification rate for hepatitis C
(unspecified) infections, Australia, 2004, by age
group and sex
Exposure category Number Percentage
180
Injecting drug use 210 70.0
Sexual contact 13 4.3
Blood/tissue recipient 4 1.3
Skin penetration procedure 7 2.3
Healthcare exposure 2 0.6
Household contact 1 0.3
Other 9 3.0
Undetermined 54 18.0
Total 300 100.0
Rate per 100,000 population
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
Age group (years)
65-69
Male
Female
70-74
75-79
80-84
85+
* Data from the Australian Capital Territory, South
Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia
only, (National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and
Clinical Research, 2005 2 )
CDI Vol 30 No 1 2006 25