Estimating HCV Prevalence at the State Level: A Call to Increase and Strengthen Current Surveillance Systems

The degree to which case surveillance captures persons ever infected with HCV is unknown. We determined the discrepancy between HCV seroprevalence, estimated from national survey data, among adults in New York State in 2008 (n = 286 262, or 1.95%) and the number of infected persons reported to the state's surveillance hepatitis registries (n = 144 015). Findings suggest the need to strengthen the existing surveillance system.