Hepatitis C: data on hepatitis C
 

Health Protection Scotland estimates that 50,000 persons (around 1% of Scotland's population) have ever been infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).  Approximately, one-third of infected persons in Scotland reside in Greater Glasgow, one-third in Lothian, Grampian and Tayside, and one-third in the other health board areas. Two-thirds of infected persons are male and the great majority will be aged less than 50 years.

In 2009, an estimated 39,000 people living in Scotland were chronically infected with hepatitis C; of these, 16,500 (42%) were estimated to have been diagnosed with hepatitis C by the end of 2009, and 22,500 (58%) were estimated to remain undiagnosed. Data for 2010 (for example, on the number of IDUs with newly acquired hepatitis C infection) are being collated to update the estimate of the number of people living in Scotland with chronic infection; however, if it is assumed that this number has remained stable at 39,000, then the proportion estimated to have been diagnosed with hepatitis C by the end of 2010 will have increased to 45% (55% remaining undiagnosed).

In 2010, 2,129 persons were reported to be hepatitis C antibody-positive (i.e. new cases) (see Table). 

Table: Persons in Scotland reported to be hepatitis C antibody-positive, by NHS board and year, earliest positive specimen; 2005-2010

An article by Hutchinson and colleagues published in the Scottish Medical Journal in 2006 provides a review of the epidemiological data and public health challenges associated with HCV infection in Scotland.