Causes of death among persons diagnosed with hepatitis C infection in the pre‐ and post‐DAA era in England: A record linkage study

Through record linkage, we describe the causes of death among persons with diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in England. Persons ≥1 year with anti-HCV/HCV-PCR tests reported to PHE sentinel surveillance during 2002-2016 were linked to death registrations from the Office for National Statistics during 2008-2016. We found that 8.6% of the 204 265 with evidence of HCV during the study period died. Among them, external causes (accidental poisoning from drugs) and liver disease (end-stage liver disease, liver cancer, hepatitis, alcohol- and non-alcohol-related) were the leading underlying causes of death (18% and 34.5%, respectively); the latter increased to 49.2% if reported anywhere on the death certificate. Median age of death was lower in persons with evidence of HCV than the general population (53 years vs 81 years). A higher proportion of persons with HCV died of external causes, liver disease and HIV compared to the general population (P < 0.001). Potential impact of new HCV treatments was observed as a relative reduction in liver-related deaths in 2016 compared with 2015. Recording of HCV as a contributory cause of death was 28.4% for all underlying causes, but 58.8% among the subgroup who died of liver disease. Data linkage between laboratory diagnosis and deaths data is an important tool for monitoring all-cause mortality among those with HCV and quantifying under-reporting of HCV in death registrations. Changes in mortality trends (causes and prematurity) in people with HCV can help evaluate the impact in the UK of HCV treatment scale-up and other interventions to achieve HCV elimination.