SEROLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF HEPATITIS C VIRAL INFECTION - SITUATION IN PRIMORSKO-GORANSKA COUNTY

Abstract

SAŽETAK Hepatitis C jedan je od najvažnijih javnozdravstvenih problema u svijetu. Najveći problem infekcije hepatitis C virusom, jest čest razvoj kroničnih oblika bolesti koji traje desetljećima i pojavljuje se u više od 80% inficiranih osoba. U visokoj proporciji oboljelih osoba, kronični hepatitis dovodi do razvoja ozbiljnih komplikacija poput ciroze i hepatocelularnoga karcinoma. Prevalencija hepatitisa C različita je u pojedinim područjima u svijetu. Dok podaci za Republiku Hrvatsku pokazuju prevalenciju od približno 1%, za Primorsko-goransku županiju o prevalenciji nema raspoloživih podataka. U radu retrospektivno su analizirani laboratorijski nalazi seroloških testiranja na hepatitis C virus (HCV), provedenih u Laboratoriju za serodijagnostiku Nastavnoga zavoda za javno zdravstvo (NZZJZ) Primorsko-goranske županije tijekom godine 2006., i u prvih pet mjeseci godine 2007. Pretraženo je ukupno 4785 uzoraka seruma bolesnika s područja Primorsko-goranske županije. Ukupno su evidentirane 174 anti-HCV pozitivne osobe. Među pozitivnim osobama podjednako su bila zastupljena oba spola. Analiza dobne raspodjele pokazala je da je od svih anti-HCV pozitivnih bolesnika, najzastupljenija bila dobna skupina između 21 godine i 30 godina, i to s 44%, te dobna skupina između 31 godine i 40 godina s 19%.ABSTRACT Hepatitis C is today one of the most important public health problems in the world. The major problem connected with hepatitis C virus infection is the fact that more than 80% of infected persons will develop chronic infection lasting for decades. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infections varies in different parts of the world. A great proportion of chronic infections will result with the development serious complications such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The prevalence of hepatitis C is different in differant parts of the world. The estimated prevalence for Croatia is about 1% and there are no available data regarding prevalence for Primorsko-Goranska County. Presented paper represents the results of retrospective analysis of serological tests for hepatitis C virus (HCV) performed in the Laboratory for Serodiagnosis of Teaching Institute of Public Health of Primorsko-Goranska County during 2006 and first five months of 2007. Overall 4785 sera of patients from Primorsko-Goranska County were analysed with positive anti-HCV results found in sera from 174 patients. Positive anti-HCV results were distributed almost equaly among female and male patients. Analysis of age distribution revealed that most of positive anti-HCV patients belong to the age group between 21 and 30 years (44%), followed by the age group between 31 and 40 years with 19% of all anti-HCV positive patients