Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Virus Infection in the General Population and Selected Groups in South-Western Greece

Greece is a country of intermediate endemicity for hepatitis B and low endemecity for hepatitis C with a downward trend during the last years. In the present study we investigated the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the region of South-Western Greece an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of epidemiology 2003-01, Vol.18 (6), p.551-557
Main Authors: Gogos, C. A., Fouka, K. P., Nikiforidis, G., Avgeridis, K., Sakellaropoulos, G., Bassaris, H., Maniatis, A., Skoutelis, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Blood donation
Carrier State
Disease transmission
Employment
Epidemiology
Female
Greece - epidemiology
Health care
Hepatitis
Hepatitis antigens
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B - epidemiology
Hepatitis B - prevention & control
Hepatitis B - transmission
Hepatitis B virus
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C - epidemiology
Hepatitis C - transmission
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infections
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Predisposing factors
Prevalence
Prophylaxis
Risk Factors
Rural areas
Rural Health
Transfusion
Urban Health
Vaccination
Viral diseases
Viral hepatitis
Viruses
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Summary:Greece is a country of intermediate endemicity for hepatitis B and low endemecity for hepatitis C with a downward trend during the last years. In the present study we investigated the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the region of South-Western Greece and tried to identify the most important risk factors of transmission. This is a unique epidemiological study, as it is the first community based study in the general population of Greece, with a methodological approach based on multi-staged random sampling. The prevalence of HBV infection seems to be decreasing with a 22.6% rate of HBV markers and a 2.1% rate of chronic HBV carriers. We found male sex, old age and intrafamiliar exposure as the major independent risk factors of HBV transmission, while sexual contact, absence of condom prophylaxis and living in rural areas seem to have also a significant impact for HBV infection. No relation was found between HBV transmission and working in health care facilities, pre-existing hospital admissions and history of transfusion. The prevalence of anti-bodies to the HCV was found 0.5%, even lower than the rate reported in the Mediterranean region. Parenteral exposure was the main risk factor for the transmission of HCV infection.
ISSN:0393-2990
1573-7284
DOI:10.1023/A:1024698715741