Journal of Community Health
Volume 37, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 547-553

Serological pattern of hepatitis B, C, and HIV infections among immigrants in sicily: Epidemiological aspects and implication on public health (Article)

Tramuto F.* , Mazzucco W. , Maida C.M. , Affronti A. , Affronti M. , Montalto G. , Vitale F.
  • a Department of Sciences, Health Promotion G. D'Alessandro-Hygiene Section, University of Palermo, 133, via del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy
  • b Department of Sciences, Health Promotion G. D'Alessandro-Hygiene Section, University of Palermo, 133, via del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy
  • c Department of Sciences, Health Promotion G. D'Alessandro-Hygiene Section, University of Palermo, 133, via del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy
  • d Department of Clinical Medicine and Emerging Pathologies, University of Palermo, 141, via del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy
  • e Department of Clinical Medicine and Emerging Pathologies, University of Palermo, 141, via del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy
  • f Department of Clinical Medicine and Emerging Pathologies, University of Palermo, 141, via del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy
  • g Department of Sciences, Health Promotion G. D'Alessandro-Hygiene Section, University of Palermo, 133, via del Vespro, 90127 Palermo, Italy

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in a cohort of immigrants living in Palermo, Sicily. The study was carried out in the period May 2006-June 2010 and recruited a total of 393 patients (59.8% males- median age of 32.6 years). All patients were tested for serological markers of HBV, HCV, and HIV infection. One-hundred thirty-eight (35.1%) individuals did not show any HBV/HCV/HIV serological marker, while 186 (47.3%) were indicative of past or current HBV infection. A total of 42 (10.7%) subjects were HBsAg positive, 59 (15.0%) showed the serological profile "anti-HBc alone", and only 40 (10.1%) were anti-HBs alone. Overall, 22/393 (5.6%) immigrants were anti-HCV positive and 13/327 (4.0%) were infected with HIV. Findings from this study suggest that a suitable screening protocol for the viral blood/sexually transmissible diseases is recommended on entering Italy, and the adoption of health control strategies should also be considered to safeguard the health of the local population. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.

Author Keywords

immigrants Sicily Human immunodeficiency Hepatitis B Hepatitis C Prevalence

Index Keywords

HIV Infections Human immunodeficiency virus infection Sicily human middle aged statistics Cross-Sectional Studies cross-sectional study Humans male Emigrants and Immigrants female immunology prevalence Article Retrospective Studies blood hepatitis C antigen Hepatitis C Antigens HIV Antigens adult migration biological marker human immunodeficiency virus antigen hepatitis B surface antigen Italy retrospective study Hepatitis B Surface Antigens hepatitis B hepatitis B core antigen Hepatitis B Core Antigens Biological Markers public health hepatitis C
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84864038656&doi=10.1007%2fs10900-011-9477-0&partnerID=40&md5=f0cad9d7f444870fedec8b65ec008a65
DOI: 10.1007/s10900-011-9477-0
ISSN: 00945145
Cited by: 16
Original Language: English