Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C among Children in Endemic Areas of Turkey

Murat Kangin; Mine Turhanoglu; Serda Gulsun; Bahri Cakabay

Hepatitis Monthly

Official Journal of Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases

Current Issue Accepted Manuscripts All Issues In Press Articles Search

Journal Information Boards and committees Indexing and Listing Sources Journal Metrics Open Peer Review (OPR)Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement Reviewer and AE Registration Form Support Contact Us

APC

Authors Guide Submit Manuscript

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C among Children in Endemic Areas of Turkey

Author(s):

Murat Kangin^1,*,

Mine Turhanoglu²,

Serda Gulsun²,

Bahri Cakabay²

1Department of Pediatrics, Diyarbakir Education and Research Hospital, [email protected], Turkey

2Department of Microbiology, Diyarbakir Education and Research Hospital, Turkey

Hepatitis Monthly:Vol. 10, issue 1; 36-41

Published online:Mar 31, 2010

Article type:Research Article

Received:Sep 15, 2009

Accepted:Feb 01, 2010

How to Cite:Kangin M, Turhanoglu M, Gulsun S, Cakabay B. Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C among Children in Endemic Areas of Turkey. Hepat Mon. 2010;10(1):. doi:

Abstract

Background and Aims: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are major worldwide public health problems. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the seroprevalence and epidemiological profile of hepatitis B and hepatitis C, to determine the impact of the national vaccination programme against hepatitis B on the prevalence of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier and the antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) occurrence rate among 0-14 year-old children in southeast Turkey.

Methods: The seroprevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C markers was evaluated retrospectively in a group of 10,391 children who were admitted to a tertiary hospital, the Diyarbakir Education and Research Hospital, from January 2005 to December 2008, in order to obtain a better understanding of the regional hepatitis seroprevalence. Children were divided into three different age groups: pre-education period (0-6 years), primary school period (7-12 years) and secondary school period (13-14 years). Samples were analyzed for HBsAg, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe), anti-HBs positive/antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) positive, isolated anti-HBs and antibodies to Hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: The mean age of all participants was 8.5± 2 years (range, 0-14). The overall percentages for the prevalence of HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe and anti-HCV were 8.1%, 2.1%, 5.9% and 0.5%, respectively. HBsAg seroprevalence differed significantly by age and gender (P < 0.001). HBeAg seroprevalence was high in the earliest years (P < 0.01). The overall prevalence of anti-HCV did not differ significantly by age (P > 0.5) but differed by gender (P < 0.001). The overall percentages for the prevalence of isolated anti-HBs and anti-HBs positive/anti-HBc positive were 34.2% and 56.9%, respectively.

Conclusions: Our study sheds new light on hepatitis seroprevalence in southeastern Turkey. For example, 1) The seroprevalence of hepatitis B in southeast Turkey is still at its highest rate, according to the averages reported in other studies conducted in the same and different regions of Turkey; and it has not decreased, as reported previously. 2) HBeAg seroprevalence in the earliest years of childhood is high in our study; this is evidence for early acquisition of the infection. 3) Isolated anti-HBs positive and anti-HBs positive/anti-HBc positive prevalence is high; given these features, it is obvious that despite the high incidence of vaccinated children, the prevalence of hepatitis B is increasing; and children acquire these viruses in their earliest years. 4) We found the overall prevalence of HCV infection unchanged. Our region has a low endemicity for HCV.

Keywords

Full Text

Full text is available in PDF

Import into EndNote Import into BibTex

Share on

Comments

Number of Comments:0

Cited by

Scopus by DOI: 0
Last Update: 1 week ago
Scopus by Title: 13
Last Update: 1 week ago
Scopus by Title (Ref): 13
Last Update: 1 week ago
CrossRef: 0
Last Update: 51 minutes ago

Metrics

Ordering Reprints

Articles are published under the Creative Commons license stated on each article. No permission or royalty fee is required for uses permitted by that license. CCC handles optional bulk and customized reprint orders. Any quotation covers production and delivery services only, not copyright permission. > Request Reprints from CCC

Search Relations

Author(s):

Murat Kangin:[PubMed][Scholar]
Mine Turhanoglu:[PubMed][Scholar]
Serda Gulsun:[PubMed][Scholar]
Bahri Cakabay:[PubMed][Scholar]

Official Journal of Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases

Outlines

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C among Children in Endemic Areas of Turkey

Abstract

Full Text

Last Update: 1 week ago

Last Update: 1 week ago

Last Update: 1 week ago

Last Update: 51 minutes ago