title: Anti-hepatitis C virus seroprevalence in the working age population in Poland, 2004 to 2014.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a serious public health concern and one of the major public health priorities. In 2005, it was estimated that there are 185 million anti-HCV positive people in the world, which constitutes 2.8% of the global population. Our study estimates the anti-HCV seroprevalence in the working age population (15-64 years-old), mostly urban and suburban residents, in Poland from 2004 to 2014. The studied group consisted of 61,805 working-age population representatives whose data were obtained from electronic medical records of an outpatient clinic network operating on a countrywide level. Positive anti-HCV test results were obtained in 957 patients, representing 1.5% of the whole population studied throughout the analysed period. The average age of all anti-HCV positive patients was 36.8 years. Analysis of the data suggests that the proportion of anti-HCV positive patients decreased over the study period (mean positive anti-HCV = -0.0017 × year + 3.3715; R2= 0.7558). In 2004, positive results were noted among 3.2% of patients undergoing HCV antibody tests, but in 2014, the percentage of patients with a positive result stood at 1.1%. The apparent decrease affected men and women similarly. Our study also provides evidence that screening people born before 1965 could be beneficial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.|Medicover Sp. z o.o., Poland.
authors.forename: Bożena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walewska-Zielecka
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Religioni
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Juszczyk
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention of Environmental Hazards and Allergology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.|Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland.
authors.forename: Zbigniew M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Wawrzyniak
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Czerw
authors.affiliation: Medicover Sp. z o.o., Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Soszyński
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fronczak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests; D013383:Suburban Population; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: HCV infection; anti-HCV; hepatitis C virus