Sciensano & Hepatitis A, B, C, D and E

Sciensano houses the Laboratory for biological standardisation, which checks the quality of vaccines against hepatitis A and B before they are released to the Belgian and European market (European Economic Area).

Sciensano coordinates the National Reference Centre for Hepatitis virus A, B, C, D and E in collaboration with the clinical laboratory of the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc (link is external).

Sciensano conducts diagnoses on samples from various arrays, using: 

• detection of antibodies against hepatitis A, C (confirmation only), D and E viruses
• detection of genetic material for hepatitis A, D and E viruses.

Sciensano also conducts analyses to determine the genotype of hepatitis A and E viruses.
Sciensano strives to develop new methods and to keep the methods used in the laboratory up to date.
Lastly, Sciensano coordinates and participates in various research projects and studies into hepatitis A, D and E viruses through national and international partnerships.

Scienano’s Illegal drugs unit stores information relating to people who use injections during their drug use. This population group always runs a higher risk of hepatitis C, primarily because needles are shared.

Sciensano coordinates the network of sentinel laboratories. Each week, these laboratories report anonymous data on various pathogens, including viral hepatitis. Sciensano uses this to monitor the epidemiology of viral hepatitis. They can monitor very useful trends by analysing this data. In addition, surveillance also involves integrating data from other sources to supplement data from the sentinel laboratories.