Epidemiology of the hepatitis C infection in Van’s region

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an enveloped positive-strand RNA virus of the genus hepacivirus in the family of Flaviviridae. HCV causes chronic infection in more than 80% of cases. It is responsible for more than 50% of liver transplantation among adults in the developed countries. Approximately 200 million people are infected with HCV entire of the world. Africa and many parts of Asia are the major endemic areas for HCV infection. Although HCV is one of the most common cause of chronic liver disease in middle-east, its epidemiology remains unclear around the Lake Van region. Therefore, we assessed the prevalence of HCV infection in individuals who live in rural areas of eastern part of Turkey. We retrospectively analyzed 1062 (405 male, 657 female) patients who admitted to Gastroenterology clinic of Yuzuncu Yil University Faculty of Medicine between January -October in 2011. Patients with prior HCV infection and with acute HCV infection were excluded. Presence of HCV infection was assessed by the routine ELISA method. Anti-HCV antibodies were screened by ELISA method using ADVIA Centaur ® XP Immunoassay System (Siemens, Ireland). Samples with positive HCV RNA real-time PCR was used as the correction method. Isolation reaction processes were analyzed by QIAGEN (Düsseldorf, Germany) brand in the QIAsymphony SP/AS instrument. Real Time PCR analysis was studied by Rotor Gene Q instrument and Artus HCV Virus-1 QS-RGQ kits (QIAGEN, Düsseldorf, Germany). All data was recorded on SPSS and was analyzed by simple statistical methods. The mean age was 46.1±17.9 years in males and was 42.5±17 years in females. 3 men and 6 women had anti-HCV antibody. Total Anti-HCV seropositivity was 0.8%. Interestingly, HCV infection is not a serious health problem in eastern part of Turkey. It may be due to low prevalence of intravenous drug users and homosexuals as well as to strict traditional rules. Further analyses may be required to establish this phenomenon particularly in eastern part of Turkey which is located on the main cross-road of the world narcotic trade.