Table 3.

Observed hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody prevalence rates for male 16–49 year olds in five year age bands undergoing, or eligible to undergo, surgery

	Cardiothoracic/ cardiology	Orthopaedics/ rheumatology	General surgery/ENT	Total (prevalence %)
16–19 years
Tested	11	37	67	115
Positive	0	0	1	1 (0.9%)
20–24 years
Tested	30	55	74	159
Positive	0	1	3	4 (2.5%)
25–29 years
Tested	57	120	92	269
Positive	3	7	9	19 (7.1%)
30–34 years
Tested	81	150	135	366
Positive	7	15	22	44 (12.0%)
35–39 years
Tested	160	175	145	480
Positive	5	2	5	12 (2.5%)
40–44 years
Tested	248	226	166	640
Positive	3	10	5	18 (2.8%)
45–49 years
Tested	298	204	174	676
Positive	1	2	2	5 (0.7%)