Using automated extraction of hepatitis B tests for surveillance: evidence of decreasing incidence of acute hepatitis B in England

• Published in: Epidemiology and infection 2012-06, Vol.140 (6), p.1075-1086
• Main Authors: BRANT, L. J., HURRELLE, M., COLLINS, S., KLAPPER, P. E., RAMSAY, M. E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antibodies; Antigens; Automation; Biological and medical sciences; Classification; Data Collection; England - epidemiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hepatitis; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B - epidemiology; Hepatitis B Antibodies - blood; Hepatitis B virus; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunization; Immunoglobulin M - blood; Incidence; Infections; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Population Surveillance; Public health; Risk Factors; Sentinel Surveillance; Surveillance; Surveys and Questionnaires; Viral diseases; Viral hepatitis; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0950-2688; 1469-4409
• DOI: 10.1017/S0950268811001683

Surveillance of acute hepatitis B in England is necessary to estimate incidence, determine routes of transmission and inform public health actions. Here we describe an automated process to extract information on testing for markers of hepatitis B infection in English sentinel laboratories between 2002 and 2008. The resulting data were used to identify individuals with acute infections, describe their characteristics and estimate the incidence of infection. Two-thirds of acute infections were in males. Heterosexual exposure and injecting drug use were the main risks reported. Annual incidence was estimated at 1·3/100 000 person-years overall (1·7 and 0·6 for males and females, respectively) and declined each year. Automated extraction of hepatitis B markers, including quantitative results where available, can help to classify HBV status more accurately for surveillance. HBV incidence in England is at its lowest level in recent years.