Summary Acute hepatitis C resulted in 253 000 global DALYs (95% UI 145 000–375 000) in 2019 and was responsible for 5·8% (3·4–8·8) of acute hepatitis DALYs.

Definition Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver. It is transmitted through injecting needles and during medical procedures.

Total sources
Incidence 0
Prevalence 300
Remission 0
Causes of death 1841
Other 32
Table 1: Total sources used in GBD 2019 estimation
What is new in GBD 2019?
  • •Adjustment for seroprevalence data among blood donors was estimated in MR-BRT using 35 sources; 52 datapoints on pregnant women were dropped because of lack of overlapping data to inform an adjustment.
  • •Analysis conducted in MR-BRT using 42 studies that reported on the prevalence of anti-HCV antibody and HCV-RNA produced a pooled estimate of proportion viremic among the seropositive individuals. This was used to correct outputs of our model of anti-HCV seropositivity to estimate viremia, instead of the proportion based on a single study used in previous rounds of GBD.
  • •Acute hepatitis C mortality was modelled in CODEm rather than the natural history model used in GBD 2017, which had the effect of increasing estimates. This allowed us to drop the assumption that case fatality ratios estimated from hospital inpatient data can be applied to all symptomatic cases of acute hepatitis C occurring in the community.
Prevalence
Incidence
Deaths
YLLs
YLDs
DALYs
Cases
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
Cases
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
Deaths
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
YLLs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
YLDs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
DALYs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
2019
Both Sexes
0·636
(0·561
to 0·737)
8·5
(7·5
to 9·9)
5·51
(4·86
to 6·39)
73·9
(65·3
to 85·6)
0·00548
(0·00331
to 0·00844)
0·1
(0·0
to 0·1)
0·244
(0·136
to 0·367)
3·2
(1·7
to 4·8)
0·00891
(0·00426
to 0·0175)
0·1
(0·1
to 0·2)
0·253
(0·145
to 0·375)
3·3
(1·9
to 4·9)
Females
0·318
(0·280
to 0·368)
8·6
(7·6
to 10·0)
2·76
(2·43
to 3·19)
74·2
(65·4
to 86·5)
0·00313
(0·00176
to 0·00502)
0·1
(0·0
to 0·1)
0·137
(0·0698
to 0·229)
3·6
(1·8
to 6·0)
0·00446
(0·00214
to 0·00881)
0·1
(0·1
to 0·2)
0·142
(0·0733
to 0·232)
3·7
(1·9
to 6·1)
Males
0·318
(0·280
to 0·367)
8·5
(7·5
to 9·8)
2·75
(2·43
to 3·18)
73·7
(65·2
to 84·8)
0·00235
(0·00132
to 0·00447)
0·1
(0·0
to 0·1)
0·107
(0·0569
to 0·201)
2·8
(1·5
to 5·2)
0·00445
(0·00212
to 0·00880)
0·1
(0·1
to 0·2)
0·112
(0·0608
to 0·209)
2·9
(1·6
to 5·4)
Percentage change 2010-19
Both Sexes
11·5%
(9·7
to 13·7)
1·2%
(0·0
to 2·6)
11·5%
(9·7
to 13·7)
1·2%
(0·0
to 2·6)
–20·8%
(–36·9
to 2·6)
–32·5%
(–46·2
to –12·3)
–30·4%
(–48·2
to –7·7)
–37·8%
(–53·7
to –17·6)
11·6%
(8·3
to 14·8)
1·3%
(–1·4
to 4·0)
–29·4%
(–46·9
to –7·4)
–36·9%
(–52·7
to –17·4)
Females
12·9%
(10·7
to 15·4)
2·1%
(0·6
to 3·6)
12·9%
(10·7
to 15·4)
2·1%
(0·6
to 3·6)
–25·4%
(–45·1
to 3·8)
–36·9%
(–53·6
to –12·1)
–35·2%
(–54·6
to –7·3)
–42·5%
(–59·9
to –17·8)
12·9%
(8·7
to 16·9)
2·1%
(–1·6
to 5·9)
–34·3%
(–53·7
to –7·0)
–41·7%
(–59·1
to –17·3)
Males
10·2%
(8·3
to 12·3)
0·3%
(–1·1
to 1·7)
10·2%
(8·3
to 12·3)
0·3%
(–1·1
to 1·7)
–13·6%
(–44·8
to 22·8)
–25·7%
(–52·0
to 4·8)
–23·1%
(–52·5
to 17·3)
–30·8%
(–57·1
to 3·6)
10·4%
(6·4
to 14·2)
0·4%
(–2·8
to 3·5)
–22·2%
(–51·0
to 17·1)
–29·9%
(–55·9
to 3·4)
Numbers in parentheses are 95% uncertainty intervals.
Table 2: Global prevalence, incidence, deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in counts and age-standardised rates for both sexes combined, females, and males, 2019, with percentage change between 2010 and 2019
Deaths YLLs YLDs DALYs
1990 179th 170th 266th 234th
2010 186th 184th 266th 258th
2019 188th 191st 266th 265th
Table 3: Rank among most detailed causes for global deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in 1990, 2010, and 2019, for both sexes combined
Figure 1: Composition of DALYs by YLLs and constituent sequelae YLDs for both sexes combined, 2019
Figure 2: Percentage of DALYs attributable to top risk factors for both sexes combined, 2019
No Legend
Figure 3: Age-standardised DALY rates for each location by SDI, both sexes combined, 2019
Figure 4: Composition of DALYs by YLLs and YLDs, age group, and sex, 2019
No Legend
Figure 5: Age-standardised DALY rates (per 100 000) by location, both sexes combined, 2019