Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Weekly / Vol. 63 / No. 29
July 25, 2014 MMWR1407D
World Hepatitis Day — July 28, 2014 July 28, 2014, marks the 4th annual World Hepatitis Day. Nearly 400 million persons are living with hepatitis B or hepatitis C, and more than 1 million die annually as a result of their infection. This year, the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) reaffirmed the global commitment to prevent and control viral hepatitis through the passage of resolution WHA 67.6 (1), which calls for raising public awareness, improving surveillance, strengthening prevention interventions, and increasing access to care and treatment services. Blood transfusions save lives, and globally more than 100 million units of blood are donated annually. Ensuring access to safe blood is a key strategy for the prevention of hepatitis B and C. In many of the poorest countries of the world, less than 50% of the blood supply comes from voluntary, unpaid donors that were adequately screened for transfusion transmitted infections, including hepatitis B and C. Prevention and control of hepatitis remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. This issue of MMWR includes a report from sub-Saharan Africa describing substantial increases in the number of blood units donated and screened for hepatitis B and C during the last decade. Despite these gains, the report demonstrates that the risk for transmission of hepatitis B and C through transfusion persists in many countries in the region. It is estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 45,000 hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus infections are transmitted through contaminated transfusions annually (2). Resources and information about World Hepatitis Day are available at http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/worldhepday.htm. References 1. World Health Organization. Hepatitis. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2014. Available at http://apps.who.int/gb/ ebwha/pdf_files/wha67/a67_r6-en.pdf?ua=1. 2. Jayaraman S, Chalabi Z, Perel P, Guerriero C, Roberts I. The risk of transfusion-transmitted infections in sub-Saharan Africa. Transfusion 2010;50:433–42.
Progress Toward Prevention of Transfusion-Transmitted Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Infection — Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–2011 Ibironke W. Apata, MD1,2, Francisco Averhoff, MD3, John Pitman, MS, MPH2, Adam Bjork, PhD2, Junping Yu4, Noryati Abu Amin, MBBCh, MD4, Neelam Dhingra, MBBS, MD4, Amy Kolwaite, MS, MPH3, Anthony Marfin, MD2 (Authors affiliations at end of text)
Infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are major causes of morbidity and mortality globally, primarily because of sequelae of chronic liver disease including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (1). The risks for HBV and HCV transmission via blood transfusions have been described previously (2) and are believed to be higher in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (3). Reducing the risk for transfusion-transmitted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), HBV, and HCV infection is a priority for international aid organizations, such as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund to Combat INSIDE 620 Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents, 2007–2013, and Postlicensure Vaccine Safety Monitoring, 2006–2014 — United States 625 National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Areas Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States, 2013 634 WHO Global Rotavirus Surveillance Network: A Strategic Review of the First 5 Years, 2008–2012 638 Nutritional Status of Women and Child Refugees from Syria — Jordan, April–May 2014 641 QuickStats Continuing Education examination available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/cme/conted_info.html#weekly.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis, and the World Health Organization (WHO). Over the last decade, PEPFAR and the Global Fund have supported blood safety programs in many sub-Saharan African countries with heavy burdens of HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis, malaria, and maternal mortality. This report summarizes HBV- and HCV-related surveillance data reported by the blood transfusion services of WHO member states to WHO’s Global Database on Blood Safety (GDBS) (4). It also evaluates the performance of blood safety programs in screening for HBV and HCV in 38 sub-Saharan Africa countries.* Selected GDBS indicators were compared for the years 2000 and 2004 (referred to as the 2000/2004 period) and 2010 and 2011 (referred to as the 2010/2011 period). From 2000/2004 to 2010/2011, the median of the annual number of units donated per country increased, the number of countries screening at least 95% of blood donations for HBV and HCV increased, and the median of the national prevalence of HBV and HCV marker-reactive blood donations decreased. These findings suggest that during the past decade, more blood has been donated and screened for HBV and HCV, resulting in a safer blood supply. Investments * Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, GuineaBissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
in blood safety should be continued to further increase the availability and safety of blood products in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 1998, WHO member states have submitted blood safety and availability indicators to GDBS. The database contains 49 variables related to blood donations, including screening for HBV, HCV, HIV, and syphilis. Data are selfreported from each country’s routine blood collection and testing operations, which typically are conducted at blood transfusion service facilities and then sent to WHO, usually on an annual or biennial basis. At the time of this analysis, GDBS contained data for the following years: 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2011. The years 2000/2004 and 2010/2011 were selected for analysis because these periods correspond to the earliest and latest GDBS data available at the time of analysis. Data available for 38 sub-Saharan African countries were analyzed, including the median number of blood donations per year for 2000/2004 and 2010/2011, the number of donations screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV), and the number and proportion of donations that were reported as HBsAg-reactive and anti-HCV-reactive. For the purpose of this analysis, the term marker-reactive (i.e., HBsAg-reactive or anti-HCV reactive) was used because data on confirmatory test results were not collected. Country-specific means were calculated for the percentage of blood donations screened for HBV and HCV during the 2000/2004 and 2010/2011 periods. Screening percentages for both HBsAg and anti-HCV were classified into one of three categories: 95%–100%, 80%–94%,
The MMWR series of publications is published by the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30329-4027. Suggested citation: [Author names; first three, then et al., if more than six.] [Report title]. MMWR 2014;63:[inclusive page numbers].
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Director Harold W. Jaffe, MD, MA, Associate Director for Science Joanne Cono, MD, ScM, Director, Office of Science Quality Chesley L. Richards, MD, MPH, Deputy Director for Public Health Scientific Services Michael F. Iademarco, MD, MPH, Director, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services
MMWR Editorial and Production Staff (Weekly) Charlotte K. Kent, PhD, MPH, Acting Editor-in-Chief John S. Moran, MD, MPH, Editor Teresa F. Rutledge, Managing Editor Douglas W. Weatherwax, Lead Technical Writer-Editor Jude C. Rutledge, Writer-Editor
Martha F. Boyd, Lead Visual Information Specialist Maureen A. Leahy, Julia C. Martinroe, Stephen R. Spriggs, Terraye M. Starr Visual Information Specialists Quang M. Doan, MBA, Phyllis H. King Information Technology Specialists
MMWR Editorial Board
William L. Roper, MD, MPH, Chapel Hill, NC, Chairman Matthew L. Boulton, MD, MPH, Ann Arbor, MI Timothy F. Jones, MD, Nashville, TN Virginia A. Caine, MD, Indianapolis, IN Rima F. Khabbaz, MD, Atlanta, GA Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, MBA, Los Angeles, CA Dennis G. Maki, MD, Madison, WI David W. Fleming, MD, Seattle, WA Patricia Quinlisk, MD, MPH, Des Moines, IA William E. Halperin, MD, DrPH, MPH, Newark, NJ Patrick L. Remington, MD, MPH, Madison, WI King K. Holmes, MD, PhD, Seattle, WA William Schaffner, MD, Nashville, TN
614
MMWR / July 25, 2014 / Vol. 63 / No. 29
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
or
July 25, 2014 MMWR1407D
World Hepatitis Day — July 28, 2014 July 28, 2014, marks the 4th annual World Hepatitis Day. Nearly 400 million persons are living with hepatitis B or hepatitis C, and more than 1 million die annually as a result of their infection. This year, the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) reaffirmed the global commitment to prevent and control viral hepatitis through the passage of resolution WHA 67.6 (1), which calls for raising public awareness, improving surveillance, strengthening prevention interventions, and increasing access to care and treatment services. Blood transfusions save lives, and globally more than 100 million units of blood are donated annually. Ensuring access to safe blood is a key strategy for the prevention of hepatitis B and C. In many of the poorest countries of the world, less than 50% of the blood supply comes from voluntary, unpaid donors that were adequately screened for transfusion transmitted infections, including hepatitis B and C. Prevention and control of hepatitis remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. This issue of MMWR includes a report from sub-Saharan Africa describing substantial increases in the number of blood units donated and screened for hepatitis B and C during the last decade. Despite these gains, the report demonstrates that the risk for transmission of hepatitis B and C through transfusion persists in many countries in the region. It is estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 45,000 hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus infections are transmitted through contaminated transfusions annually (2). Resources and information about World Hepatitis Day are available at http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/worldhepday.htm. References 1. World Health Organization. Hepatitis. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2014. Available at http://apps.who.int/gb/ ebwha/pdf_files/wha67/a67_r6-en.pdf?ua=1. 2. Jayaraman S, Chalabi Z, Perel P, Guerriero C, Roberts I. The risk of transfusion-transmitted infections in sub-Saharan Africa. Transfusion 2010;50:433–42.
Progress Toward Prevention of Transfusion-Transmitted Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Infection — Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–2011 Ibironke W. Apata, MD1,2, Francisco Averhoff, MD3, John Pitman, MS, MPH2, Adam Bjork, PhD2, Junping Yu4, Noryati Abu Amin, MBBCh, MD4, Neelam Dhingra, MBBS, MD4, Amy Kolwaite, MS, MPH3, Anthony Marfin, MD2 (Authors affiliations at end of text)
Infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are major causes of morbidity and mortality globally, primarily because of sequelae of chronic liver disease including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (1). The risks for HBV and HCV transmission via blood transfusions have been described previously (2) and are believed to be higher in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (3). Reducing the risk for transfusion-transmitted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), HBV, and HCV infection is a priority for international aid organizations, such as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund to Combat INSIDE 620 Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents, 2007–2013, and Postlicensure Vaccine Safety Monitoring, 2006–2014 — United States 625 National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Areas Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States, 2013 634 WHO Global Rotavirus Surveillance Network: A Strategic Review of the First 5 Years, 2008–2012 638 Nutritional Status of Women and Child Refugees from Syria — Jordan, April–May 2014 641 QuickStats Continuing Education examination available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/cme/conted_info.html#weekly.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis, and the World Health Organization (WHO). Over the last decade, PEPFAR and the Global Fund have supported blood safety programs in many sub-Saharan African countries with heavy burdens of HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis, malaria, and maternal mortality. This report summarizes HBV- and HCV-related surveillance data reported by the blood transfusion services of WHO member states to WHO’s Global Database on Blood Safety (GDBS) (4). It also evaluates the performance of blood safety programs in screening for HBV and HCV in 38 sub-Saharan Africa countries.* Selected GDBS indicators were compared for the years 2000 and 2004 (referred to as the 2000/2004 period) and 2010 and 2011 (referred to as the 2010/2011 period). From 2000/2004 to 2010/2011, the median of the annual number of units donated per country increased, the number of countries screening at least 95% of blood donations for HBV and HCV increased, and the median of the national prevalence of HBV and HCV marker-reactive blood donations decreased. These findings suggest that during the past decade, more blood has been donated and screened for HBV and HCV, resulting in a safer blood supply. Investments * Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, GuineaBissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
in blood safety should be continued to further increase the availability and safety of blood products in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 1998, WHO member states have submitted blood safety and availability indicators to GDBS. The database contains 49 variables related to blood donations, including screening for HBV, HCV, HIV, and syphilis. Data are selfreported from each country’s routine blood collection and testing operations, which typically are conducted at blood transfusion service facilities and then sent to WHO, usually on an annual or biennial basis. At the time of this analysis, GDBS contained data for the following years: 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2011. The years 2000/2004 and 2010/2011 were selected for analysis because these periods correspond to the earliest and latest GDBS data available at the time of analysis. Data available for 38 sub-Saharan African countries were analyzed, including the median number of blood donations per year for 2000/2004 and 2010/2011, the number of donations screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV), and the number and proportion of donations that were reported as HBsAg-reactive and anti-HCV-reactive. For the purpose of this analysis, the term marker-reactive (i.e., HBsAg-reactive or anti-HCV reactive) was used because data on confirmatory test results were not collected. Country-specific means were calculated for the percentage of blood donations screened for HBV and HCV during the 2000/2004 and 2010/2011 periods. Screening percentages for both HBsAg and anti-HCV were classified into one of three categories: 95%–100%, 80%–94%,
The MMWR series of publications is published by the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30329-4027. Suggested citation: [Author names; first three, then et al., if more than six.] [Report title]. MMWR 2014;63:[inclusive page numbers].
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Director Harold W. Jaffe, MD, MA, Associate Director for Science Joanne Cono, MD, ScM, Director, Office of Science Quality Chesley L. Richards, MD, MPH, Deputy Director for Public Health Scientific Services Michael F. Iademarco, MD, MPH, Director, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services
MMWR Editorial and Production Staff (Weekly) Charlotte K. Kent, PhD, MPH, Acting Editor-in-Chief John S. Moran, MD, MPH, Editor Teresa F. Rutledge, Managing Editor Douglas W. Weatherwax, Lead Technical Writer-Editor Jude C. Rutledge, Writer-Editor
Martha F. Boyd, Lead Visual Information Specialist Maureen A. Leahy, Julia C. Martinroe, Stephen R. Spriggs, Terraye M. Starr Visual Information Specialists Quang M. Doan, MBA, Phyllis H. King Information Technology Specialists
MMWR Editorial Board
William L. Roper, MD, MPH, Chapel Hill, NC, Chairman Matthew L. Boulton, MD, MPH, Ann Arbor, MI Timothy F. Jones, MD, Nashville, TN Virginia A. Caine, MD, Indianapolis, IN Rima F. Khabbaz, MD, Atlanta, GA Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, MBA, Los Angeles, CA Dennis G. Maki, MD, Madison, WI David W. Fleming, MD, Seattle, WA Patricia Quinlisk, MD, MPH, Des Moines, IA William E. Halperin, MD, DrPH, MPH, Newark, NJ Patrick L. Remington, MD, MPH, Madison, WI King K. Holmes, MD, PhD, Seattle, WA William Schaffner, MD, Nashville, TN
614
MMWR / July 25, 2014 / Vol. 63 / No. 29
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
or
