Two-Center Comparison of Viral Hepatitis A, B, C Seroprevalence among the 18-25 Age Group

Abstract

Abstract:
 Objective: Viral hepatitis is liver inflammation due to a viral infection affecting millions of people worldwide and causing thousands of deaths because of acute and persistent infection, liver cancer and cirrhosis. This study is aimed to compare datas of the seroprevalence of markers for viral hepatitis A, B, C among 18-25 age group between the two University Hospitals from east and west zone of Turkey.
 Material and methods: A retrospective study of patients admitted to the ………..Medical Faculty and …….. University Health Practice and Research Hospital between 01.01.2022 and 01.07.2022, a total of 562 individuals with ages ranging from 18 to 25 years, who were tested for the presence of serological markers to hepatitis virus types A to C and HIV using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. 
 Results: Anti-HAV IgG positivity was 25.5% and 40.3% for Çanakkale and Kahramanmaraş, respectively. Anti-HBs positivity was found to be 74.5% and 75.4% for Çanakkale and Kahramanmaraş, which were similar to each other. HBsAg positivity was detected as 1.5% in Çanakkale and 0.8% in Kahramanmaraş. Anti HCV was found to be positive in one (0.5%) patient in Çanakkale and in four (1.1%) patients in Kahramanmaraş. 
 Conclusion: Due to the low anti-HAV seropositivity rates in the 18-25 age group, this makes this group more risky in terms of HAV infection. Especially due to the anti-HAV positivity in Çanakkale is low compared to Kahramanmaraş, it is recommended to support vaccination in this region. Since healthcare workers are at risk of having and transmitting hepatitis, it was found to be appropriate getting prevention measures by screening against vaccine-preventable diseases.