P5: Prevalence of hepatitis C virus genotypes in four risk groups in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

died by the end of the year 2011. The most common causes of death were either related to liver diseases: viral hepatitis, cirrhosis and cancer, caused by alcohol abuse and intoxications or by accidents or suicides. HCV-infected individuals appear to die younger than the average Finnish people. The most common way to contract HCV infection in Finland is intravenous drug use. HCV-antibody prevalence among intravenous drug users in Finland was over 60% in 2009 and over 40% among studied inmates in 2006. HCV prevalence among pregnant women has increased from 0.19% to 0.64% during 1985-2010. However, among blood donors HCV prevalence has been clearly decreasing being 0.006% in 2011. According to HCVgenotyping studies the main HCV-genotypes circulating in Finland belong to 3a, 1a, 1b and 2b subtypes. P5Prevalence of hepatitis C virus genotypes in four risk groups in the Republic of Macedonia S Kiprijanovska, K Davalieva, P Noveski, E Sukarova-Stefanovska, D Plaseska-Karanfilska and M Polenakovic Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes depends on geographic location (1). HCV genotyping is highly important for severity of infection assessment as well as for epidemiological investigations (2). The aim of our study was to determine the HCV genotype prevalence in four different risk groups [intravenous drug users (IDU), hemodialysis patients, patient undergoing transfusion and other risk factors (persons exposed to contaminant needles or sharps, medical or dental procedures, piercing, tattooing, etc.)] in the Republic of Macedonia and to evaluate its association with patient's age, gender and mode of transmission. METHOD: Detection of HCV was done by using commercial assay (AMPLICOR HCV v2.0). HCV genotyping was performed with an ASO hybridization method using specific oligonucleotide probes for HCV genotypes 1-4 (3). SUMMARY OF RESULTS: A total of 613 HCV positive patients were investigated. The prevalence of HCV infection in the different risk groups was found to be 51.53% in IDU, 47.91% in hemodialysis group, 14.81% in patient undergoing transfusion and 25% in the group of other risk factors. The genotypes 1, 2 and 3 were present with 52.7%, 0.7% and 46.3% respectively, while mixed infections (G1/G3 and G1/G2) were present with 0.3%. Genotype 1 was the most prevalent genotype in hemodialysis (93.6%), transfusion (50%) and other risk factor group (68.8%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis pointed out age >40 [p < 0.0001, Exp (B) = 2.13] and hemodialysis mode of transmission [p < 0.0001, Exp (B) = 14.58] as a positive predictor factor for genotype 1. Genotype 3 was the most frequent genotype in the IDU group (64.4%), followed by genotype 1 (35.4%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis using genotype 3 as a dependent variable and age <40 and IDU mode of transmission as independent variables confirmed these two factors [p < 0.0001, Exp (B) = 2.38 and p < 0.0001, Exp (B) = 13.76, respect...

Study of the Hepatitis C Virus in the Republic of Macedonia

“…Amplicor Specimen Preparation and Amplification kit (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, IN, USA) were used for RNA isolation and amplification according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. The prevalence of HCV infections in the healthy population of the Republic of Macedonia was found to be 0.4%, while in different at-risk groups of patients such as IV drug users, hemodialysis patients, patients under a blood transfusion regimen and those with unknown factors, the prevalence of HCV varies between 23.0 and 43.0% [20]. …”

“…Genotype 1 was found in 55.4% of genotyped patients ( n = 714), while genotype 3 was found in 44.6% of genotyped patients ( n = 632) [20]. There was statistically significant difference between the risk factors analyzed and the acquisition of HCV infection.…”