Cent Eur J Public Health 2014, 22(1):29-33 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3844

Prevalence of Viral Hepatitis in Croatian Adult Population Undergoing Routine Check-up, 2010-2011

Tatjana Vilibić-Čavlek1, Jasmina Kučinar2, Sunčanica Ljubin-Sternak2, Bernard Kaić3, Lorena Lazarić-Stefanović2, Branko Kolarić4,5
1 Virology Department, Croatian National Institute of Public Health and School of Medicine University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
2 Microbiology Department, Istria County Institute of Public Health, Pula, Croatia
3 Communicable Disease Epidemiology Service, Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
4 Public Health, Social Medicine and Gerontology Service, Zagreb County Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
5 School of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

Seroprevalence data on viral hepatitis in the general population vary widely. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis A (HAV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) viruses in the general Croatian adult population undergoing routine check-ups. The seroprevalence of anti-HAV, anti-HBc and anti-HCV was 40.5%, 7.0% and 0.9%, respectively. HBsAg was found in 0.7% and anti-HBs antibodies in 24.4% of participants. Gender was not associated with HAV, HBV or HCV seropositivity. HAV and HBV seropositivity increased progressively with age (HAV from 11.7% to 90.4%, p<0.001; HBV from 1.7% to 15.8%, p<0.001). Participants from rural areas showed a significantly higher HBV seroprevalence rate than those from urban areas (10.7% vs. 6.1%, p=0.007). Results of univariate and multiple logistic regression showed that older age was a significant predictor for both HAV and HBV seropositivity while rural place of residence was a significant predictor for HBV seropositivity.

Keywords: HAV, HBV, HCV, seroprevalence, Croatia

Received: October 9, 2012; Revised: December 12, 2013; Accepted: December 12, 2013; Published: March 1, 2014  Show citation

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Vilibić-Čavlek T, Kučinar J, Ljubin-Sternak S, Kaić B, Lazarić-Stefanović L, Kolarić B. Prevalence of Viral Hepatitis in Croatian Adult Population Undergoing Routine Check-up, 2010-2011. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2014;22(1):29-33. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3844. PubMed PMID: 24844103.
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