More testing needed to reduce hepatitis B and C infections, warns Health Institute

The Netherlands must step up its fight against hepatitis B and C, experts at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) say. The health institute has drawn up a plan to further reduce the viral infections, calling for more testing of people from countries where hepatitis is relatively more common.

That covers a large part of the world, from countries in Eastern Europe to Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. One option the experts cite is testing asylum seekers for hepatitis after they arrive in the Netherlands. This is similar to the policy regarding tuberculosis, as anyone from a country where the disease is widespread is routinely tested.

Better record-keeping could also yield gains. The RIVM wants a central system in which diagnoses and treatments are recorded. “With this insight, weak spots in care can be identified and addressed more quickly,” the explanation says.

The plan is part of an update to the National Hepatitis Plan released in 2016. Despite progress, not all of the goals set a decade ago have been met, in part because of “a lack of funding and the Covid-19 pandemic,” according to the report released Monday.

Each year, 450 to 500 people die from the effects of hepatitis B and C. Thousands of people carry the virus for years without knowing it, because symptoms appear only later. In addition to migrants, men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, and people in detention face a higher risk.

Young children in the Netherlands are vaccinated against hepatitis B. Vaccination is also possible later in life. Public information about that needs to improve, the experts say. There is no vaccine against hepatitis C. The disease can usually be treated effectively, but the infection must be detected first.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that occurs in several forms. Infections often cause no symptoms. With hepatitis B and C, however, chronic infections can develop and lead to serious illness. There is a risk of cirrhosis of the liver, which in turn raises the chances of liver cancer. Other symptoms include fatigue, fever, muscle pain, loss of appetite, and jaundice, in which the skin and eyelids, among other body parts, turn yellow.