Seroprevalences of HBsAg, Anti-HBs, and Anti-HCV in Serum Samples Obtained from Syrian-Origin and Non-Syrian-Origin Patients Admitted to Kahramanmaras Necip Fazil City Hospital in the Last Two Years

• Main Authors: Esra ÖZKAYA, Özlem KİRİŞCİ, Ahmet ÇALIŞKAN, Seray TÜMER, Hande ŞENOL
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bilimsel Tip Yayinevi 2015-09-01
• Series: Flora Infeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Dergisi
• Subjects: HBsAg; Anti-HBs; Anti-HCV; Refugees
• Online Access: http://www.floradergisi.org/getFileContent.aspx?op=REDPDF&file_name=2015-20-03-128-132.pdf
• ISSN: 1300-932X; 1300-932X

Introduction: The prevalence rates for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections could be affected by the migration of people between countries. The detection of prevalence rates specifi c to individual countries, cities or also hospitals in certain intervals guides the decision-making process required in health policies. According to the data of the Disaster Relief and Emergency Management Agency, there has been a significant flow of immigrants into the province of Kahramanmaras fleeing the civil war in Syria. The aim of this study was to evaluate seroprevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV in serum samples obtained from patients who were admitted to the study center in the last two years. Materials and Methods: The serum samples delivered from all units to our laboratory between January 2013 and October 2014 were tested for HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV using an Advia Centaur XP (Siemens, Marburg, Germany) auto-analyzer. Results: A total of 46.356 tests were studied in the scope of this study. Mean ages of the patients tested for HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV were 42.7 ± 20.3, 44.1 ± 20.2, and 43.8 ± 20.6 years, respectively. The prevalence of HBsAg between 2013 and 2014 was 5.1% in non-Syrian-origin patients and 3.6% in Syrian-origin patients. The prevalence of anti-HBs was 43.4% among non-Syrian-origin patients and 34.9% among Syrian-origin patients. The prevalence of anti-HCV was 1.2% among non-Syrian-origin patients and 1.8% in Syrian-origin patients. Conclusion: Development of more appropriate health policies is required for refugees since Turkey is allowing the flow of immigrants. Satisfying this need requires the collection of regional data. Thus, this study reported the seroprevalences of HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV at our hospital and as far as can be achieved in the literature providing additional information regarding the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV among refugees, who have fled Syria with the escalation of the civil war.