Prevalence of hepatitis B and C viruses infection in chronic alcoholics with or without liver disease in Ioannina, Greece: Low incidence of HCV infection

Abstract

Intravenous heroin abusers comprise a high risk group for hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV) infection. Chronic alcoholics with liver disease (LD) also comprise a high risk group for HBV infection whereas the frequency of antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) ranges from 27-42.6%. In this study, HBV and HCV infection markers were determined in alcoholic patients with (83 patients) or without LD (68 patients) in order to assess the prevalence of these markers (HBsAg, HBsAb, HBcAb and anti-HCV). The reason for the study was a lack of established data in this group of patients in Greece. The disease control groups consisted of 70 non-alcoholic hospitalized patients and 60 heroin addicts, whereas 1342 healthy blood donors were also investigated. Our results showed significantly increased prevalence of HBV infection markers in chronic alcoholic patients compared to healthy controls and non-alcoholic hospitalized patients. The findings were independent of the presence or absence of LD. In contrast to heroin addicts, where anti-HCV antibodies were observed in 90%, there was no difference in the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies in chronic alcoholics (with or without LD), nonalcoholic hospitalized patients or healthy controls. In conclusion, we found that in this area of north-western Greece, chronic alcoholics, independent of the presence of LD, comprise a high risk group for HBV infection but very rarely have HCV infection. The latter finding may reflect technical or socio-economic differences regarding the lifestyle of our patients, and our population in general.

Value of anti‐HBc screening of blood donorsfor prevention of HBV infection: results of a 3‐year prospective study in Northwestern Greece

“…This study showed that, in our region of Northwestern Greece, approximately 16 percent of the donor population had serologic markers of past or current HBV infection. Taking into account our previous studies, 31,42,43 this finding indicates that the Epirus region still has a moderate prevalence of HBV infection markers (when these markers were examined in total). However, the prevalence of HBsAg carriers appears to have declined significantly in the region, from 3.5 percent (n = 1936; 95% CI, 2.7‐4.3%) in 1978 through 1982 (Kolaitis N, written communication, April 1999) to 2.1 percent (n = 1342; 95% CI, 1.33‐2.86%) in 1985 through 1992 31,42,43 and to 0.85 percent at the time of this writing (95% CI, 0.6‐1.1%) (p<0.0001 and p<0.001, respectively).…”

“…Taking into account our previous studies, 31,42,43 this finding indicates that the Epirus region still has a moderate prevalence of HBV infection markers (when these markers were examined in total). However, the prevalence of HBsAg carriers appears to have declined significantly in the region, from 3.5 percent (n = 1936; 95% CI, 2.7‐4.3%) in 1978 through 1982 (Kolaitis N, written communication, April 1999) to 2.1 percent (n = 1342; 95% CI, 1.33‐2.86%) in 1985 through 1992 31,42,43 and to 0.85 percent at the time of this writing (95% CI, 0.6‐1.1%) (p<0.0001 and p<0.001, respectively). This decline may suggest improvement in the general measures of HBV prevention in our region, although the previous, retrospective studies investigated a small number of donors and the methods of HBsAg detection were the same only during the second period cited above.…”

Prevalence of hepatitis B and C markers in high-risk hospitalised patients in Crete: a five-year observational study

“…Thus, a published survey of HBV and HCV infection markers from a referral center of Northern Greece among alcoholics with chronic liver disease, alcoholics without chronic liver disease, hospitalized non-alcoholic patients and healthy controls, reported an HBsAg prevalence rate of 10.8%, 7.4%, 1.4% and 2.1%, an HBcAb prevalence rate of 39.2%, 36.4%, 14.3% and 19.5% and an anti-HCV prevalence rate of 1.2%, 1.4% 0% and 0.6% respectively [12]. The prevalence rates of HBV viral markers in the non-alcoholic hospitalized patients are lower than ours while our figures come closer to the ones reported in their healthy control group.…”

New Data concerning the Epidemiology of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Greece

“…Furthermore, significantly higher prevalence of HBV infection is observed in chronic alcoholic patients—with or without established liver disease—compared to healthy blood donors or nonalcoholic hospitalized patients, which is ascribed to their specific and some times unexpected behavior [25]. …”