engleski

Intravenous Addiction as a Main Transmission Route of HCV Infection in some Counties of Croatia

The aim of this retrospective study is to investigate epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis C virus infected subjects and routes of transmission of acquiring infection in the County of Split-Dalmatia in Croatia. Study included all HCV infected subjects (patients and anti-HCV positive carriers) in select period between 1st January, 2001. and 31st December, 2005. The control group consisted of HCV infected subjects residing in the County of Istria at the same period. In both counties male population comprised majority of all HCV infected (72.6%) and was younger than females. The average age was 31.2±12 (min-max: 4-83) and 36.2±17 in females (min-max:10-77). In both counties and in both sexes the highest age specific HCV infection rate was in the 20-29 age group. The risk of acquiring HCV infection was 1.7 times more present in the Istria County. The largest part of HCV infected with the known risk group affiliation, 140/175 or 80.0% in the County of Split-Dalmatia and 93/101 or 92.1% in Istria count, belonged to the risk group of intravenous drug abusers. There are genotype data for 79 injecting drug users from the County of Split-Dalmatia. 59 of them (74.7%) were infected with subtype 3a and 1a which are strongly associated with the intravenous drug addiction. There was positive correlation between the rate of the treated intravenous drug addicts among 100.000 inhabitants and the rate of HCV infected. This confirms the hypothesis that the dominant HCV infection transmission route in the County of Split-Dalmatia was intravenous drug abuse. The same transmission route was even more common in Istria County.

hepatitis C; intravenous drug abusers; epidemiology; Croatia

nije evidentirano