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

Hepatitis b virus (hbv) and hepatitis c virus (hcv) infections are major worldwide public healthproblems. the objectives of this study were to evaluate the seroprevalence and epidemiological profile of hepatitis b andhepatitis c, to determine the impact of the national vaccination programme against hepatitis b on the prevalence of thehepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag) carrier and the antibody to hepatitis b surface antigen (anti-hbs) occurrence rateamong 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 10,391children who were admitted to a tertiary hospital, the diyarbakir education and research hospital, from january 2005 todecember 2008, in order to obtain a better understanding of the regional hepatitis seroprevalence. children were dividedinto three different age groups: pre-education period (0-6 years), primary school period (7-12 years) and secondaryschool 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 tohepatitis 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 ofhbsag, hbeag, anti-hbe and anti-hcv were 8.1%, 2.1%, 5.9% and 0.5%, respectively. hbsag seroprevalence differedsignificantly by age and gender (p < 0.001). hbeag seroprevalence was high in the earliest years (p < 0.01). the overallprevalence of anti-hcv did not differ significantly by age (p > 0.5) but differed by gender (p < 0.001). the overallpercentages 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 seroprevalenceof hepatitis b in southeast turkey is still at its highest rate, according to the averages reported in other studiesconducted in the same and different regions of turkey; and it has not decreased, as reported previously. 2) hbeagseroprevalence 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 isobvious that despite the high incidence of vaccinated children, the prevalence of hepatitis b is increasing; and childrenacquire these viruses in their earliest years. 4) we found the overall prevalence of hcv infection unchanged. our regionhas a low endemicity for hcv.