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. 2020 May 9;17(9):3293.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093293.

What is the Role of the Horizontal Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Young Adult and Middle-Aged Roma Population Living in the Settlements in East Slovakia?

Sylvia Drazilova  1 , Pavol Kristian  2 , Martin Janicko  3 , Monika Halanova  4 , Dominik Safcak  5 , Patricia Denisa Dorcakova  2 , Maria Marekova  6 , Daniel Pella  7 , Andrea Madarasova-Geckova  8 , Peter Jarcuska  3 , HepaMeta Team
Affiliations

What is the Role of the Horizontal Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Young Adult and Middle-Aged Roma Population Living in the Settlements in East Slovakia?

Sylvia Drazilova et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The aim of our work is to objectify the manner of transmission of HBV infection in young adult and middle-aged Roma people who live in the settlements. Methods: We used data from the cross-sectional study HepaMeta. We analyzed Roma people living in the settlements in East Slovakia, who have had HBsAg and anti HBc IgG antibodies examined. Results: We analyzed a cohort of 452 Roma participants with a mean of age 34.67 ± 9.14 years-159 (35.2%) were males. HBsAg positivity was diagnosed in 12.4% and the presence of anti HBc IgG antibodies was confirmed in 52% of participants. Prevalence of HBsAg positivity increases significantly with higher age, (p = 0.026), as well as the presence of anti HBc IgG antibodies (p < 0.0001). The prevalence of HBsAg positivity has doubled and anti HBc IgG positivity has tripled within two decades (<25 years vs. 35-45 years) in Roma settlements in East Slovakia. Conclusions: These findings allow us to express an opinion that horizontal transmission in adulthood may play an important role in the spreading of HBV infection.

Keywords: Roma population; hepatitis B infection; hepatitis B prevalence; horizontal transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Anti HBc IgG positivity prevalence according to age, error bars represent 95% CI. p for trend <0.0001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
HBsAg positivity prevalence according to age, error bars represent 95% CI, p for trend 0.047.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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