The seroprevalence of both hepatitis B and hepatitis C at the first-step health organizations and the difference between the urban and rural areas

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are very important infectious agents for public health. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) and anti-HCV test results of patients who admitted to first-step health organizations in central and peripheral districts of Konya, the central region of Turkey during the period 2005–2010.

In this study, HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV screening test results of patients who admitted to first-step health organizations in Konya during the period 2005–2010 were retrospectively investigated from the laboratory records. This study was approved by the Konya Health Directorate. All screening tests were performed on the automatic third-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MEIA). This immunoassay method was carried out according to the instructions of the manufacturer. Borderline and positive results were retested.

Konya is the largest city of Turkey in terms of surface area and one of the economically developed cities. For HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV screening, whole test results of 5 years are given in Table 1 and Figure 1. The differences between the urban and rural for HBsAg (p = 0.062 > 0.05) and anti-HCV(p = 0.874 > 0.05) were not statistically significant. Among the markers only for anti-HBs, the difference between the urban and rural was statistically significant (P = 0.042 < 0.05). Of them, 4.15 % were positive for HBsAg, 36.46 % were positive for anti-HBs and 1.16 % were positive for anti-HCV.

In this study, Konya has been evaluated as two regions: central and peripheral. Our study showed us that distribution of the diseases vary from one region to another. We consider that difference in social diversity is one of the factors. These infections are major health problems. So the results of immunodiagnostic tests for HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV will be useful for guiding control actions and for new preventive strategies.