Download Geographical distribution of patients with chronic hepatitis B

Geographical distribution of patients with chronic hepatitis B and C in Hungary
Author: Melinda Fabian, 4th year student
Supervisor: Prof.Dr.Ferenc Szalay
Institute: Semmelweis University, Faculty of Medicine , Internal Medicine
Background:
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the most common cause of viral hepatitis worldwide. The
number of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients exceeds 170 million. The prevalence of HCV
is about 1 % in Europe but it varies among the countries. The estimated number of HCV infected
patients in Hungary is about seventy thousand, which is ten times above that of HBV patients.
The aim of our epidemiological study was to asses the prevalence of HCV and HBV in different
regions of Hungary.
Methods: The data of 4092 infected patients with chronic hepatitis C and 317 with HBV was
collected from the whole country using the central database of candidate patients for antiviral
treatment. The patients were ranked according to the place of residence and according to the
counties and geographic regions.
Result:
Significant difference was found in the prevalence both of HBV and HCV patients among the
counties. The highest prevalence of HBV infection was found in the eastern counties (6.8/100000
in Békés neighboring with Romania and Ukraine) and the lowest in west (0.69 in Győr-MosonSopron neighboring with Austria). In case of HCV similar, but not so pronounced East-West
gradient tendency was observed among the counties (59.2 in Békés and 21.6 in Győr-MosonSopron).
Budapest the capital with 2 millions inhabitants is among the regions with high prevalence for
both viruses.
Discussion and conclusion:
The east-west gradient in prevalence of HBV and HCV could be explained by the geographical
proximity of the eastern regions to Romania and Ukraine where the prevalence is one magnitude
higher than in Hungary. The introduction of screening of blood donors for hepatitis viruses and
the general use of disposable syringes and needles was started in the above countries later than in
Hungary. Differences in the HCV prevalence are more complex to explain. These
epidemiological results confirm the importance of health care system.
Keywords: HBV, HCV treated patients, geographical distribution