New US Hepatitis C Infections Dropped Slightly In 2022, Health Officials Say

The AP (4/3, Stobbe) reports, “New U.S. hepatitis C infections dropped slightly in 2022, a surprising improvement after more than a decade of steady increases, federal health officials said Wednesday.” However, “experts are not sure whether the 6% decline is a statistical blip or the start of a downward trend.” And while infections “declined for white Americans,” they “continued to rise in Black, Latino and Native American communities, according to Dr. Neil Gupta, who oversees the branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that tracks viral hepatitis.”