Substantial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the reported number of diagnosed chronic hepatitis C virus infections in the Netherlands, 2019–2021

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has widespread consequences for health facilities, social contacts, and health-seeking behaviour, affecting the incidence, diagnosis and reporting of other infectious diseases. We examined trends in reported chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and associated transmission routes in the Netherlands to identify the potential impact of COVID-19 on access to healthcare (testing) services. METHODS: We analysed notification data of patients with chronic HCV reported to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System from January 2019 until December 2021 in the Netherlands. Rates of newly reported chronic cases per 100,000 population with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated, and we compared proportional changes in transmission routes for chronic HCV between 2019, 2020 and 2021. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 1,521 chronic HCV infections were reported, 72% males, median age 52 years, and an overall rate of 8.8 (95%CI 8.4–9.2) per 100,000 population. We observed an overall decline (-41.9%) in the number of reported chronic HCV in 2020 compared to 2019, with the sharpest decline in men who have sex with men (MSM)-related transmission (-57.9% in 2020, p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Reported cases of chronic HCV strongly declined during the COVID-19 pandemic when healthcare services were scaled down. Between February and June 2021, reported chronic HCV cases increased again, indicating a recovery of healthcare services. MSM showed the largest decline compared to other groups. Further research is needed to fully understand the impact of access to healthcare, health seeking behaviour, and (sexual) transmission risks of HCV during the COVID-19 pandemic.