Abstract

Introduction: Viral hepatitis (VH) is a group of diseases frequently caused by five agents: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D and hepatitis E, with different epidemiological and clinical characteristics. Objective: To study the epidemiological profile of viral hepatitis in Brazil from 2014 to 2023. Methodology: epidemiological, cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive, exploratory and time-series study, covering a decade, referring to the period from 2014 to 2023, carried out with secondary data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (TABNET/DATASUS). The data were tabulated in Excel and presented in graphs and tables, absolute numbers and frequencies. Results: There was a total of n=353694 confirmed cases of viral hepatitis in Brazil in the decade from 2014 to 2023. The year with the highest peak was 2015, which presented 42563 confirmed cases. The Southeast region presented 45% of the cases, males were more affected and represented 56% of the sample. Regarding race, the white race predominated with 162206 cases. In Brazil, the age group of 40-59 years had the highest number of VH cases of 158050. About the VH criterion of confirmation, the criterion of laboratory confirmation of VH predominated with 351713 confirmed cases. As regards the mechanical source of infection, most confirmed cases were classified as Ignored/Blank (n=221607), followed by Sexual source (n=48049). Final Considerations: Viral hepatitis is still an epidemiological concern, although it has shown a decreasing trend in the decade under study, since after a decrease in 2020, a growing peak has resumed since then, currently remaining above the trend line.

Keywords

viral hepatitis, epidemiology, public health