<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Backgroud: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the main causes of liver related morbidity and mortality. Objective: To assess the epidemiologic features of HBV and HCV infections between 2004 and 2007 in the Hamadan province, Iran. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, epidemiologic and demographic characteristics of patients infected with HBV or HCV, or both, during about four years were collected from health centers in the Hamadan province. Results: Overall, there were 1533 infected patients (66.2% with HBV, 32.5% with HCV, and 1.3% with both). Male patients comprised 74.4% of patients. In view of marital status, 71.3% were married, 27% single, and 1.7% were widowed or divorced. The majority of patients (78.4%) inhabited urban areas while 21.6% inhabited rural areas. Patients &lt;4 years old had the lowest rate of infection (0.26%), while the highest incidence (13.11%) was found in the 25-29-year-old age range. With respect to serologic markers, 61.4%, 33.7%, 4.4% and 0.3% of patients were HBsAg+, HCVAb+, HBsAb+ and HBeAg+, respectively. Overall, the incidence of HBV was found to be decreased from 2004 to 2007, while the incidence of HCV increased from 2004 to 2007. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBV infection decreased during the period of study. This could be attributed to the increasing public vaccination of neonates and people at high-risk, which began about 15 years ago. However, it seems that an increasing incidence of high-risk behaviors including intravenous drug abuse with shared syringes has led to an increased incidence of HCV infection.</abstract>

Backgroud: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the main causes of liver related morbidity and mortality. Objective: To assess the epidemiologic features of HBV and HCV infections between 2004 and 2007 in the Hamadan province, Iran. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, epidemiologic and demographic characteristics of patients infected with HBV or HCV, or both, during about four years were collected from health centers in the Hamadan province. Results: Overall, there were 1533 infected patients (66.2% with HBV, 32.5% with HCV, and 1.3% with both). Male patients comprised 74.4% of patients. In view of marital status, 71.3% were married, 27% single, and 1.7% were widowed or divorced. The majority of patients (78.4%) inhabited urban areas while 21.6% inhabited rural areas. Patients <4 years old had the lowest rate of infection (0.26%), while the highest incidence (13.11%) was found in the 25-29-year-old age range. With respect to serologic markers, 61.4%, 33.7%, 4.4% and 0.3% of patients were HBsAg+, HCVAb+, HBsAb+ and HBeAg+, respectively. Overall, the incidence of HBV was found to be decreased from 2004 to 2007, while the incidence of HCV increased from 2004 to 2007. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBV infection decreased during the period of study. This could be attributed to the increasing public vaccination of neonates and people at high-risk, which began about 15 years ago. However, it seems that an increasing incidence of high-risk behaviors including intravenous drug abuse with shared syringes has led to an increased incidence of HCV infection.

Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in patients referred to health centers in the Hamadan province, Iran: an epidemiologic study of infections between 2004 and 2007

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, 65178-3-8736,

Bahar Hospital, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan 6517838736,

Department of Health Services, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan 6517838736,

Biotechnology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 917751365

Cardiovascular Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 917751365,

Asian Biomedicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Backgroud: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the main causes of liver related morbidity and mortality. Objective: To assess the...

Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in patients referred to health centers in the Hamadan province, Iran: an epidemiologic study of infections between 2004 and 2007

Article Category: Original article

Published Online: Feb 04, 2017

Page range: 619 - 625

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.0705.220

Keywords
Epidemiology, health center, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, prevalence

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in patients referred to health centers in the Hamadan province, Iran: an epidemiologic study of infections between 2004 and 2007

Article Category: Original article

Published Online: Feb 04, 2017

Page range: 619 - 625

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.0705.220

KeywordsEpidemiology, health center, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, prevalence

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Epidemiology, health center, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, prevalence