Seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infections and risk factors in Turkey: a fieldwork TURHEP study

Abstract

The present study was designed to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C virus (HBV, HCV) infections and risk factors in the Turkish general population. Participants were enrolled from urban and rural areas of the predetermined 23 EUROSTAT NUTS 2 region. A two-stage stratified sampling method was used to select participants from these regions (n = 5460; 50.9% females; mean (SD) age: 40.8 (14.7) years). Sociodemographics, clinical characteristics and risk factors were recorded at home visits. The seropositivity rates for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HCV, anti-HBs and anti-HBc total were 4.0%, 1.0%, 31.9% and 30.6%, respectively. Among HBsAg-positive cases, 94.5% were anti-HBe-positive, 70.2% were HBV-DNA-positive and 2.8% were anti-HDV total positive; 99.1% of HBV infections were of genotype D. Close contact with a hepatitis patient (OR 3.24; 95% CI 2.25-4.66; p < 0.001), living in the southeastern region (OR 2.74; 95% CI 1.7-4.45; p < 0.001), male gender (OR 1.77; 95% CI 1.28-2.46; p < 0.001), being married (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.02-2.57; p 0.038), educational level less than high school (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.04-2.26; p 0.03), orodental interventions (OR 1.54; 95% CI 1.01-2.35; p 0.047) and a history of non-disposable syringe use (OR 1.4; 95% CI 1.01-1.96; p 0.045) were significant determinants of HBsAg positivity. Age ≥50 years (OR 2; 95% CI 1.09-4.3; p 0.026) was the only significant predictor of anti-HCV positivity. In conclusion, our findings revealed an HBsAg positivity in 4% and anti-HCV positivity in 1% of the adult population and at least one-third of the population has been exposed to HBV infection in Turkey.

Seroprevalance of hepatitis B and C infections in Turkey

“…The data on prevalence of hepatitis C in Turkey is very limited, comprising a few studies from the southeastern and southwestern regions (9,10). A study by Tozun et al (11) was the largest populationbased study in Turkey, including 5460 participants from the rural and urban areas of 23 cities. The mean age of the study population was 41 years, and 51% were women.…”

Hepatitis B immune globulin and HBV-related liver transplantation

“…Almost one-third of the population have antiHBc and almost 4% of the people are HbsAg carriers [13]. Not surprisingly, HBV cirrhosis is the leading cause of liver transplantation.…”

SHFI: A Novel Noninvasive Predictive Model for Significant Fibrosis in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B

“…Hence, the researchers think that the results of the patients with HBV genotype D could be extended to other HBV genotypes (49). Additionally, since limited number of cases were tested in this study, the validation of SHFI-1 or SHFI-2 is required in large populations.…”