Secular Trends and Geographic Maps of Hepatitis C Virus Infection among 4 Million Blood Donors in Taiwan from 1999 to 2017

Abstract

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Taiwan was approximately 4% a decade ago, much higher than the worldwide average. This study aimed to assess the HCV burden among 4 million voluntary blood donors after 2 decades of prevention and treatment policies. We retrieved screening results for anti‐HCV and HCV RNA from the Database for Evaluating Voluntary Taiwanese Eligible Donors. First‐time blood donors who donated blood after 1999 and repeat donors who donated blood more than once between 2013 and 2017 were included to estimate HCV prevalence and incidence, respectively. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate hazard ratios. Geographic variation in HCV prevalence and incidence in 364 townships was also analyzed. The prevalence study included 3,656,598 first‐time donors. The overall crude prevalence of anti‐HCV decreased from 15.5 to 4.5 per 1,000 donors between 1999 and 2017. Younger birth cohorts had a significantly lower prevalence of anti‐HCV. The majority of townships (64.3%) in Taiwan showed a significantly decreased prevalence. The incidence study included 1,393,014 repeat donors followed for 3,436,607 person‐years. Ninety‐eight donors seroconverted to HCV RNA positivity, resulting in an HCV incidence of 2.9 per 100,000 person‐years. Donors living in townships where HCV RNA prevalence was greater than 2 per 1,000 had at least 2.5‐fold greater risk of new HCV infection. Conclusion: HCV prevalence in Taiwanese first‐time blood donors decreased by 71% in the last 2 decades. However, townships with higher HCV prevalence also showed higher HCV incidence and require more active intervention.