CHRONIC VIRAL HEPATITIS IN THE NORTHWEST FEDERAL REGION OF RUSSIA

Abstract

Study objective: To characterize chronic viral hepatitis C epidemic in the districts of the Northwest Federal Region and in the region as a whole. Materials and methods: Analysis of state statistics about infectious diseases in the Russian Federation as presented in Form No. 1 «Information on Infectious and Invasion Diseases» and in statistical tables developed at Methodological and Research Canter for Epidemiological Surveillance of Viral Hepatitis under Pasteur Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. Results: In 1996–2006, chronic hepatitis C incidence in the Northwest Federal Region was several times higher than in the Russian Federation on average. The minimum and maximum rates of newly found hepatitis C cases were 17,2о/оооо in Pskov Oblast and 93,5о/оооо in Saint Petersburg. The highest prevalence levels in all districts and in the whole region were found in the age group of 20 to 49 years. Hepatitis C prevalence in the Northwest Region is 1,7 times higher than in the Russian Federation on average (680,2о/оооо vs. 388,8о/оооо). In the year 2015 compared with 2014, the proportion of diagnoses confirmed with serological and molecular biological tests increased from 35,6 to 81,2%. However, in Leningrad Oblast, the proportion of diagnoses based solely on blood HVC antibodies increased from 57,5% to 73,1%. In Karelia, molecular biological tests were not used in 100% of cases. Conclusion: The high number of hepatitis C patients who may produce new HVC cases warrants strict registering and outpatient follow-up of infected persons and people who contacts with them at specialized clinics. The involvement of young and middle age people in HVC epidemic is prone with the formation of a population having liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which makes it expedient to develop programs of antiviral therapy aimed at preventing the unfavorable outcomes of chronic viral hepatitis.