The epidemiology of hepatitis and its control strategies in China

Hepatitis is a highly endemic disease in China, which accounts for 1/3 of the reported cases in the National Notifiable Disease Reporting System annually.Hepatitis has a serious effect on Chinese people and brought heavy disease burden.This review therefore focuses on analyzing the epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis to provide better control strategies.The prevalence of hepatitis A declined year by year, but local outbreaks still exists.So, surveillance was needed to monitor the epidemiological shift and vaccination status.Even though, a better impact of hepatitis B vaccination was observed, there are still some challenges remained.Besides infants and children, high risk adults are expected to be immunized and clear national guideline is needed for HBV carrier's management.Moreover, sensitive laboratory tests are required to diagnose hepatitis C, hepatitis D and hepatitis E.Standard treatment for hepatitis C and development of hepatitis E treatment will be priority towards the control these disease.The disease burden needs more attention to have better result towards hepatitis control.