Changes in acute viral hepatitis epidemiology in the Turkish adult population: A multicenter study
Citation
Karacaer, Z., Tosun, S., Batırel, A., Şahin, S., Altaş, İ., Uysal, S., Erol, S., Ceran, N., Albayrak, A., Yıldız, İ. E., Kostakoğlu, U., Kaçar, F., Kuzhan, N., Kadanalı, A., Karagöz, G., Yenilmez, E., Bayırlı Turan, D., Altunçekiç Yıldırım, A., Koçak, F., Çetinkaya, R. A., … Yılmaz Karadağ, F. (2018). Changes in acute viral hepatitis epidemiology in the Turkish adult population: A multicenter study. The Turkish journal of gastroenterology : the official journal of Turkish Society of Gastroenterology, 29(2), 177–182. https://doi.org/10.5152/tjg.2018.17431Abstract
Background/Aims: The present study aimed to determine the changes in the epidemiology of hepatitis in recent years in an adult Turkish population. Materials and Methods: Overall, 852 patients with acute viral hepatitis from 17 centers were included in this study. Their sociodemographic characteristics, clinical courses, treatments, and laboratory findings were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The most commonly found microorganisms were the hepatitis B virus (55.2%) and hepatitis A virus (37.6%), and the types of acute viral hepatitis differed significantly according to the age group (p=0.001). The most frequently reported symptom was fatigue (73.7%), and the most common complications were cholecystitis (0.4%) and fulminant hepatitis (0.4%). The median hospital stay was 9 days (range 1-373). In total, 40.8% patients with acute hepatitis B virus developed immunity. Conclusion: In Turkey, there are significantly large adolescent and adult populations susceptible to acute viral hepatitis. Therefore, larger vaccination programs covering these age groups should be implemented. © Copyright 2018 by The Turkish Society of Gastroenterology.
