In 2019, a total of 117 881 confirmed cases of gonorrhoea were reported by 28 EU/EEA Member States. The overall crude notification rate was 31.6 cases per 100 000 population.
In 2021, 14 560 cases of hepatitis C were reported in 29 EU/EEA Member States. Excluding countries that only reported acute cases the number of cases (14 550 cases) corresponds to a crude rate of 4.1 cases per 100 000 population.
Viral hepatitis is an infection that causes inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by different viruses, including hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Both HBV and HCV can cause acute and chronic infections and are leading causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
The laboratories participating in the QA21 EQA scheme for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of N. gonorrhoeae showed good levels of competency and capability in recovering and testing strains of unknown phenotype.