title: The prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed hepatitis C virus infection in Navarra, Spain, 2014-2016.
abstract: To estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Navarra, Spain, as well as to distinguish between diagnosed and undiagnosed infections.
  
  
  
  A study was conducted on patients scheduled for surgery unrelated to HCV infection. They were all tested for HCV antibodies, under a routine scheme, from January 2014 to September 2016. Patients with a positive result by enzyme immunoassay were confirmed using immunoblot and/or HCV-RNA. Previous laboratory results were also taken into account. The prevalence was adjusted to the sex and age structure of the Navarra population.
  
  
  
  The study included a total of 7,378 patients with a median age 46 years, of whom 50% women. HCV antibodies were detected in 69 patients, which is a prevalence in the population of 0.83% (95% confidence interval: 0.64-1.05), and was higher in men (1.11%) than in women (0.56%; P=.0102). Among the HCV positive patients, 67 (97%) had had another previous positive result. Population prevalence of previous positive HCV was 0.80%, and was 0.03% for a new diagnosis. Of the HCV positive patients, 78% had detectable HCV-RNA. It was estimated that 0.65% of the population had had detectable HCV-RNA, and 0.51% continued to have it when recruited into the study.
  
  
  
  Previous estimates of prevalence of HCV infection should be revised downwards. Only a small proportion of HCV positive patients remain undiagnosed, and only a small part have active infection.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Microbiología Clínica, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España.
authors.forename: Aitziber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguinaga
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Díaz-González
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Microbiología Clínica, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Pamplona, España.
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez-García
authors.affiliation: Hospital García Orcoyen, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Estella, Navarra, España.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barrado
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Pamplona, España.
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Martínez-Baz
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Pamplona, España.
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Casado
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Pamplona, España.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Juanbeltz
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Microbiología Clínica, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ezpeleta
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Pamplona, España. Electronic address: jcastilc@navarra.es.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castilla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D019562:Viral Load; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Carga viral; Encuesta seroepidemiológica; Epidemiology; Epidemiología; España; Hepatitis C virus; Seroepidemiological survey; Seroprevalence; Seroprevalencia; Spain; Viral load; Virus de la hepatitis C