Hepatitis C: data on hepatitis C

Health Protection Scotland estimates that 50,000 persons (around 1% of Scotland's population) have 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.

Of the 50,000 persons living with HCV in Scotland, 37,500 are likely to be HCV carriers (i.e. chronically infected with HCV). By the end of 2005, approximately 20,000 HCV infected persons were diagnosed but, of these, an estimated 2,500 had died and a further 4,400 had spontaneously cleared their virus. Thus, just over a third of HCV carriers in Scotland have been diagnosed.

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.