Summary
Viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E) is the leading cause of inflammation of liver tissue (hepatitis).
The disease burden associated with hepatitis A and E occurs shortly after infection, and it is more severe among adults. With hepatitis A and E, the number of incident cases (new acute infections) is important from a public health perspective.
Long-term hepatitis can cause cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in patients. The disease burden associated with hepatitis B, C, and D appears 10 to 20 years after infection. Thus, the prevalence of these infections is important from a public health perspective.
There were an estimated 3.4 (0.5–6.5) million symptomatic hepatitis A cases in 2005, 292 (251–341) million chronic hepatitis B in 2016, 71.1 (62.5–79.4) million chronic hepatitis C in 2015, 23.9 (10.4–27.6) million chronic hepatitis D in 2016, and 69,622 (12,400–132,732) new cases of hepatitis E in 2005.
The annual deaths associated with viral hepatitis infections are 35,245 for hepatitis A in 2005, 884,000 for hepatitis B in 2015, 400,000 for hepatitis C in 2015, and 69,622 for hepatitis E in 2005.
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