Prevalence and Risk Factors for Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Roma and Non-Roma People in Slovakia
by
Sylvia Drazilova 1, Martin Janicko 2,*
, Pavol Kristian 3, Ivan Schreter 3, Monika Halanova 4, Ingrid Urbancikova 5, Andrea Madarasova-Geckova 6, Maria Marekova 7, Daniel Pella 2, Peter Jarcuska 2 and HepaMeta Team 8
Sylvia Drazilova 1, Martin Janicko 2,*, Pavol Kristian 3, Ivan Schreter 3, Monika Halanova 4, Ingrid Urbancikova 5, Andrea Madarasova-Geckova 6, Maria Marekova 7, Daniel Pella 2, Peter Jarcuska 2 and HepaMeta Team 8
1
Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Poprad, 058 01 Poprad, Slovakia
2
1st Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University and L. Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia
3
Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University and L. Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
4
Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Kosice, 041 80 Kosice, Slovakia
5
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Children´s Faculty Hospital, P.J. Safarik University, Kosice, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia
6
Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Kosice, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia
7
Department of Medical and Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Kosice, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia
8
Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Kosice, 040 11 Kosice, Slovakia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(5), 1047; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15051047
Received: 21 March 2018 / Revised: 9 May 2018 / Accepted: 15 May 2018 / Published: 22 May 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Roma Health)
Prevalence of Hepatitis B is relatively low in developed European countries. However specific subpopulations may exist within each country with markedly different Hepatitis B burden. Roma minority is very numerous in Slovakia and their lifestyle is completely different to non-Roma population. The aim of this study is to map Hepatitis B prevalence in Roma and compare it to non-Roma population and to explore potential socio-economic and health related risk factors. Cross-sectional epidemiology study was performed in Slovakia that included randomly sampled Roma population and geographically corresponding random sampled non-Roma population. Comprehensive questionnaire about risk factors was administered and blood samples were drawn for Hepatitis B serology and virology tests. Altogether 855 participants were included. Global Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) positivity rate was 7.7% (i.e., active Hepatitis B) and anti Hepatitis B core IgG antibody (antiHBcIgG) positivity rate was 34.6%. Roma population had significantly higher prevalence of Hepatitis B, both active chronic infection (12.4%; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 9.58%–15.97% versus 2.8%; 95% CI 1.56%–4.91%; p < 0.0001) and antiHBcIgG positivity (52.8%; 95% CI 48.17%–57.44% versus 25.9%; 95% CI 12.56%–20.02%; p < 0.0001) Main risk factors for HBsAg positivity were Roma ethnicity, male sex and tattoo. Conclusion: There is a very high prevalence of Hepatitis B in Roma communities in Slovakia, with potential for grave medical consequences.
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Keywords:
chronic hepatitis B; Roma population; prevalence; risk factors; anti HBc antibodies; HBV DNA
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Drazilova, S.; Janicko, M.; Kristian, P.; Schreter, I.; Halanova, M.; Urbancikova, I.; Madarasova-Geckova, A.; Marekova, M.; Pella, D.; Jarcuska, P.; HepaMeta Team. Prevalence and Risk Factors for Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Roma and Non-Roma People in Slovakia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1047.
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