Effect of preventive applications on prevalence of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections in West Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are community health problems in developing countries and the most common causative agents of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. This study investigates the prevalence and the effect of preventive applications on prevalence of HBV and HCV infections in blood donors.


METHODS
Blood donors enrolled to the University and State Hospital Blood Banks in Aydin region of Turkey through the years 1993 to 2002 were retrospectively analyzed. Blood donors were investigated in 2 groups, Group I (1993-1997) and Group II (1998-2002) to compare the prevalence difference in 10-years period. Serum hepatitis B antigen (HbsAg) and anti-HCV were tested by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits and anti-HCV positive results were confirmed by recombinant immune blot assays HCV test.


RESULTS
The prevalence of HBV and HCV infections was determined as 1.5% and 0.19% over the period 1993-2002. Although, the prevalence of HBV infection declined significantly in Group II (1.17%) in comparison with Group I (2.27%) (p<0.0001), there was no significant difference in both groups regarding HCV infection (p=0.238).


CONCLUSIONS
Preventive applications against blood transfusion related diseases succeed to decrease HBV infection significantly in West Turkey. Vaccination seems to be the most effective method to prevent hepatitis infection.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Adnan Menderes University, Medical Faculty, 09100 Aydin, Turkey. serhansakarya@yahoo.com
Serhan
S
Sakarya
Serkan
S
Oncu
Barcin
B
Ozturk
Selcen
S
Oncu
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001782:Blood Donors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods; D011336:Probability; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology