[Hepatitis C in Poland in 2006].

In 2006, with 2949 new cases of hepatitis C, the incidence (7.7 per 100 000) was within the range observed in the last year (2997 new cases with the incidence rate 7.9 in 2005). There were 131 deaths due to hepatitis C. The cause of death in 125 cases was chronic stage of hepatitis C and the other 6 deaths were the result of the acute hepatitis C. In 2006, data on all cases of newly detected HCV infections (past or present) are also included in the analysis of epidemiological situation of hepatitis C in Poland. The number of cases of newly detected infection reported was 8952, which corresponds to the rate of detecting HCV of 23,5 per 100 000 population. Hepatitis C becomes a major health problem in Poland.