HbsAg and antiHCV seroprevalence in an Eastern province of Turkey Türkiye'nin Doğu İllerinde HbsAg ve antiHCV seroprevalansi

SUMMARY Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalance of the Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) viruses among patients living in Tunceli province who had been admitted to the Tunceli State Hospital. Method: The seropositivity rates of hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg, n:3640), antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs, n:3941) and HCV antibodies (anti-HCV, n:3489) were retrospectively studied at the Tunceli StateHospital for the period between July 2013 and January 2015. Data was collected from the database of Tunceli State Hospital and analyzed using SPSS 15.00. Results: A total of 3640 patients tested for HBsAg were included in this study. 154 patients (4.23 %) were found HBsAg positive. 33 (0.94 %) of 3489 patients were found anti-HCV positive and 1829 (46.41%) of 3941 patients were found anti-HBs positive. Conclusions:While an earlier study had produced similar results to the current study in Tunceli province, the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV are still high. Therefore, community awareness should be raised through health education about transmission and prevention of HBVand HCV infections.