title: Hepatitis C virus prevalence in The Netherlands: migrants account for most infections.
abstract: A population-based anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence is important for surveillance purposes and it provides insight into the burden of disease. The outcomes of recent studies in the general Dutch population as well as recent HCV data from specific risk groups including migrants, men who have sex with men (MSM) and injecting drug users (IDUs), were implemented in a modified version of the Workbook Method (a spreadsheet originally designed for HIV estimations), to estimate Dutch HCV seroprevalence. The estimated national seroprevalence of HCV was 0·22% (min 0·07%, max 0·37%), corresponding to 28 100 (min n = 9600, max n = 48 000) HCV-infected individuals in The Netherlands. Of these, first-generation migrants from HCV-endemic countries (HCV prevalence ≥2%) accounted for the largest HCV-infected group, followed by IDUs and HIV-positive MSM.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. rianne.vriend@rivm.nl
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Vriend
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Van Veen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prins
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Urbanus
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Boot
authors.forename: E L M
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Op De Coul
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult