Viral Hepatitis in Kerbala Province in Iraq: Nine Years Epidemiological Study
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Copyright: © 2020 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background: Viral hepatitis is a contagious disease that continues to be a global problem with profound socioeconomic and health burden. We have noticed from our clinical practice that the number of cases is growing especially in Kerbala Province. Aim: we conduct this epidemiological study in Kerbala Province to investigate the incidence rate of Viral Hepatitis (A,B,C and E) infection and to have an insight to the causative factors in view to addressing them and tackle the preventive tools in this big health problem. Method: Data from The Infectious Diseases Registration Office in Kerbala health directorate was revised to review all registered hepatitis cases between 2010 and 2018. Results: of 11427 hepatitis patients, (53.5%) males and (46.6%) females registered in Kerbala Health governorate in nine years (2010-2018). Hepatitis A formed the majority of cases (62.1%) followed by hepatitis B and C and E (24.6%, 11.8% and 1.3%, respectively). Converting frequency to incidence rates showed that the annual rate of the four main types of hepatitis were 0.069, 0.028, 0.013, 0.001 per 100,000 population, respectively. Within the four main geographical areas in Kerbala (City Centre, Hindia, Al Hussainia and Hurr) the incidence of hepatitis A per 100,000 population was markedly higher in the city Centre. Children and adolescents were the mostly affected age groups as they formed more than three quarters of the patients, but there was no significant gender difference. Seasonal variation was very clear as summer months were marked with significant increase in incidence rates. Conclusion: Health policy decision makers need to address the serious health issue and implement a more proactive plan in the near future to tackle this problem.
