COVID-19 pandemic: hepatitis notifications and implications for its eradication in Brazil and Peru

Tereza-De-almeida R.; Saldarriaga-Sandoval L.J.; Itsuko-Ciosak S. · Revista Medica Electronica (2024)

Resumen

Introduction: Chronic hepatitis B and C infections are important causes of hepatocellular carcinoma in the world. Certainly, in the Americas region, measurement of progress toward the hepatitis B treatment goal is limited by the absence of data on the proportion of people eligible for treatment and the absence of a functional cure. Objective: To analyze notifications of hepatitis B and C in Brazil and hepatitis B in Peru, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its implications for eradicating hepatitis by 2030. Methods: Descriptive, retrospective and quantitative epidemiological study. Results: 187 hepatitis B and 712 hepatitis C cases were notified in Brazil in 2019 and 93 hepatitis B and 323 hepatitis C cases in 2020, with a reduction in notifications for hepatitis B of 50.2% and for hepatitis C of 54.6%. In Peru, in 2019, 1,559 cases of hepatitis B were reported and 758 in 2020, with a reduction of 51.3% in hepatitis B notifications. Conclusion: The decrease in notifications of hepatitis B was very significant in both countries and may have implications for epidemiological indicators of viral hepatitis, in the face of investment needs to build resilient health in response to emergencies, which corroborates the health actions to eradicate hepatitis by 2030.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de Tumbes