European monitoring of notifications of hepatitis C virus infection in the general population and among injecting drug users (IDUs) – the need to improve quality and comparability

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious public health problem in Europe, and it is estimated that a large number of people are unaware of their infection [1-3]. HCV infection may lead to symptomatic chronic liver disease after many years of asymptomatic infection. Effective treatment is available for HCV infection; however, the efficacy for many genotypes remains low and therapy is prolonged, involving both weekly injections and daily oral medication, and can be associated with significant adverse effects [4,5]. Where documented, injecting drug use is a major transmission route for HCV infections [1,6,7]. In many European countries, national surveillance of HCV infections has been established relatively recently.