Occurrence, genotypic variety and risk factors for hepatitis C among patients with chronic viral hepatites in the Novosibirsk region
The authors studied the occurrence of the markers of viral hepatites В and C, genotypic variety of isolates and risk factors fhepatitis С in 164 patients with a history of chronic viral hepatites. Results of serological tests and PCR showed that among the examined patients 63.4% had markers of VHC, 22.6% - markers of viral hepatitis В (VHB), 11.6% - markers of two viral hepatites (VHC and VHB); in 2.4% of cases no markers or either VHB or VHC were detected. Genotypes 1b (62.7%) and 3a (22.7%) of hepatitis С virus prevailed, in general, in both the examined population and various age groups. The most relevant risk factors for HCV infection were associated with abuse of injected narcotic substances (OR = 6.98) and intrafamilial contacts with an individual with acute hepatitis (OR = 5.56). Also, the presence of tattoos and (or) piercing were sufficient for predicting the presence of HCV infection in examined individuals with the probability 73.5%. An analysis of risk factors associated with HCV infection depending on the genotype revealed that genotype 1b was reliably more often detected in the group of individuals who underwent blood transfusion, genotype 2 - among individuals who received general anesthesia. Patients with genotype 1b were reliably more often admitted to hospitals due to liver diseases, contrary to individuals with genotype 3a.