In 2022 there were 5,169 people newly diagnosed with hepatitis C (HCV) in New York State (NYS), a 9% decrease from 2021, continuing the downward trend of HCV diagnoses over the previous decade. Between 2010 and 2022, 194,375 New Yorkers were diagnosed with HCV, and of those, 53% are known to have cleared their infection either through treatment or spontaneously. Moreover, from 2015 to 2022, the cumulative percentage of people diagnosed with HCV who cleared their infection increased from 20% to 53%.
Dashboard users can explore interactive visualizations of diagnoses and treatment/clearance data, with the option to stratify trends by sex and age statewide and at the region and county levels. Data is also available at the New York City (NYC) borough and Neighborhood Tabulation Area (NTA) levels. By making these statewide and local HCV elimination metrics available to all stakeholders, the dashboard can serve as a useful tool to monitor trends and identify any gaps or priority populations across the state in continued efforts to eliminate HCV.
New HCV Elimination Metric – New Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs
Along with diagnosing and treating individuals who are currently infected with HCV, achieving elimination of HCV will require a significant reduction in ongoing transmission of the virus.
Given that the majority of new HCV infections are related to injection drug use, monitoring and reducing new infections among this group is crucial for achieving elimination goals. In NYS (outside of New York City) in 2022, 81% of the newly reported acute HCV cases with reported risk factors were associated with injection drug use. However, the stigma and criminalization attached to injection drug use, coupled with the frequent unavailability of risk factor data for those newly diagnosed with HCV, present significant obstacles in tracking new infections within this population.
Recent studies have also indicated that injection drug use is most common in adults aged 18-40 nationally. Therefore, due to the evidence that new infections among individuals aged 18-40 are likely attributable to injection drug use, acute hepatitis C infections in this age group may be used as a proxy for new infections among all persons who inject drugs. More details on this methodology can be found on the HCV Dashboard’s Targets and Metrics page.
Stay tuned for future updates on the new infections among people who inject drugs metric, with data at the statewide, rest of state (NYS excluding NYC), and NYC levels to be released on the dashboard later this year!
