Hungary records more than 2,000 hepatitis A cases in 2025

The 2,048 cases is more than seven times as many as in 2024 and 11 times more than in 2023. Although the NNGYK had no data beyond the 42nd week in 2022, the trend suggests that around 750 hepatitis A cases would have occurred that year — a third of the figure for 2025.

The Epidemiology and Surveillance Centre, which is part of Semmelweis University, has recently pointed out that the number of HAV cases reported in Hungary significantly exceeded the five-year median value from week 48 of 2024 onwards. There was a temporary decline from mid-April to early July 2025, presumably corresponding to the seasonal low point of the disease in spring and early summer. However,

a continuous increase has been observed since the second half of the summer, which coincides with the usual peak of the disease in late summer and autumn.

According to experts at the centre, the seasonal pattern is the same as in previous endemic years, confirming that common transmission factors (e.g. food) do not determine the spread of the virus, which is driven by direct or indirect human contact. This is also supported by the ECDC report of 28 November.

(Note that the 5-year averages are distorted by the fact that the NNGYK did not publish hepatitis A figures from the 41st week in 2020 and from the 43rd week in 2022. The former had a smaller impact, with just 25 infections reported up to the 40th week, while data missing in 2022 had a much greater impact, as the number of infections reached 557 by the 42nd week. The average number of infections was 13.3 per week that year vs. 0.6 in 2020.)

According to the Surveillance Centre's Situation Assessment, time series regional data show that, as reported in the news, Budapest and Pest County were affected at the beginning of the year, while the spread of the virus accelerated in Borsod and Szabolcs counties in the second half of the year.

This shows that the outbreak affected the capital and Pest County. Despite the large population in these areas, measures were successful in slowing down the spread of the disease. However, in areas that had experienced endemic outbreaks in previous decades, such as Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties, where conditions are favourable for the disease to spread (e.g. low levels of drinking water and sewerage provision, poor hygiene practices, etc.), the disease spread more quickly in the second half of the year, in line with the usual seasonal pattern, as was also the case in previous years/decades.

As the chart above shows, Budapest had a particularly high number of hepatitis A infections. A total of 743 cases were reported in the capital last year, followed by 324 cases in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, 261 cases in Pest county, 232 cases in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, and 105 cases in Bács-Kiskun county.

The above figures mean that more than a third of all hepatitis A infections were detected in Budapest, with almost 16% in Borsod County and less than 13% in Pest County.

However, the ranking changes when we look at the proportion of each county's population infected with hepatitis A last year. Borsod came out on top, followed by Szabolcs county, then the capital, and Bács-Kiskun and Pest counties. These are the same counties that make up the top five as in the above ranking, only in a different order.

Cover image (for illustration purposes only): Getty Images