Hepatitis C: It is mainly men who get infected

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MunichIn Germany, significantly more men than women are infected with hepatitis C: Last year there were twice as many boys and men as girls and women. The Robert Koch Institute reports in a current epidemiological bulletin.

Anal sex and infected needles

Hepatitis C is mainly transmitted through infected needles. In countries with less high medical standards, this can also be done as part of medical treatment. In Germany, on the other hand, drug addicts in particular become infected in this way. Since there are more men than women who inject drugs in this country, this partly explains why men are more infected than women.

The second most common transmission route is risky sex practices that can lead to bleeding - for example during anal intercourse. In 2013, men who had sex with men in particular became infected in this way. In principle, hepatitis C can also be transmitted during unprotected sex, albeit with a significantly lower risk of infection.

Hidden disease

Overall, the number of new diagnoses reported rose slightly in 2013 from 5006 to 5156. However, the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher. The reason: risk groups such as drug addicts and migrants from high prevalence countries are underrepresented in the available data. In addition, in many cases, hepatitis C is so mild and unspecific that it goes undetected.

Capital of hepatitis C

Unlike in Egypt, for example, where 23 percent of the population is infected with hepatitis C, the disease is rather rare in Germany, with a disease rate of only 0.3 percent of the population. However, hepatitis C occurs differently in the different federal states: In Hesse, Saxony, Bavaria and Hamburg, significantly more diagnoses were made. The virus infection occurs most frequently in Berlin. Last year, 14.8 out of 100,000 inhabitants there had known hepatitis C. That is more than five times as many as in Baden Württemberg, where only 2.7 out of 100,000 inhabitants had known hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is a serious disease - if it is chronic, it causes cirrhosis of the liver in up to 30 percent of cases. Up to four percent of patients develop liver cancer. (cf)

Source: Robert Koch Institute: Viral Hepatitis C in 2013, Epidemiological Bulletin, August 4, 2014 / No. 31

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