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A review of the burden of hepatitis C virus infection in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan

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Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with substantial clinical and economic burden and is an important public health issue in Asia. The objective of this review was to characterize HCV epidemiology and related complications in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. A search of electronic databases and conference abstracts identified 71 potentially relevant articles. Of those, 55 were included in the epidemiology review and 9 in the review of HCV-related complications. HCV prevalence in the general population was 1.6 % in China, 0.6–0.9 % in Japan, 0.6–1.1 % in South Korea and 1.8–5.5 % in Taiwan. Prevalence was higher for injecting drug users (48–90 %) and those with human immunodeficiency virus coinfection (32–85 %) and was lower for blood donors (<1 %). Annual incidence of HCV in China was 6.01 per 100,000. HCV genotype 1b was associated with the highest incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Five-year survival for patients with liver cirrhosis was 73.8 %, decreasing to 39.2 % following liver transplantation; the majority of deaths were attributable to HCC. Limitations were that the majority of studies included in the epidemiology review were small, regional studies conducted in specific populations, and there was an absence of large population-based studies. Thus, estimates may not be representative of the epidemiology of HCV for each country. The prevalence HCV in China and HCV incidence in the Asian region remain largely unknown, and they are likely underestimated. Further epidemiologic and clinical data are needed to provide more precise estimates for use by public health agencies.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Compliance with ethical requirements and Conflict of interest

Heather Bennett, Nathalie Waser, Karissa Johnston, Jia-Horng Kao, Young-Suk Lim, Zhong-Ping Duan, Youn-Jae Lee, Lai Wei, Chien-Jen Chen, William Sievert, Yong Yuan and Hong Li declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICON Epidemiology, ICON plc, Toronto, Canada

    Heather Bennett

  2. ICON Epidemiology, ICON plc, Vancouver, Canada

    Nathalie Waser & Karissa Johnston

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jia-Horng Kao

  4. Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jia-Horng Kao

  5. Department of Gastroenterology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Young-Suk Lim

  6. Yon-An Hospital, Beijing Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Zhong-Ping Duan

  7. Department of Internal Medicine, Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea

    Youn-Jae Lee

  8. Hepatology Institute, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Lai Wei

  9. Academia Siica, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chien-Jen Chen

  10. Monash Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    William Sievert

  11. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Yong Yuan & Hong Li

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  1. Heather Bennett
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  12. Hong Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathalie Waser.

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Bennett, H., Waser, N., Johnston, K. et al. A review of the burden of hepatitis C virus infection in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Hepatol Int 9, 378–390 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-015-9629-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-015-9629-x

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