title: A review of the burden of hepatitis C virus infection in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
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.
authors.affiliation: ICON Epidemiology, ICON plc, Toronto, Canada, heather.bennett@iconplc.com.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Waser
authors.forename: Karissa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Jia-Horng
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Young-Suk
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Zhong-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Youn-Jae
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Lai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Chien-Jen
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sievert
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology