| Revista: | Annals of hepatology |
| Base de datos: | PERIÓDICA |
| Número de sistema: | 000417639 |
| ISSN: | 1665-2681 |
| Autors: | Contini, Carlo1 Badia, Lorenzo1 Cultrera, Rosario1 Grilli, Anastasio1 Togni, Aldo de2 |
| Institucions: | 1Universita di Ferrara, Dipartamento di Medicina, Ferrara, Emilia Romagna. Italia 2Servizio di Igiene e Sanita Pubblica, Unita di Epidemiologia e Statistica Medica, Ferrara, Emilia Romagna. Italia |
| Any: | 2012 |
| Període: | Nov-Dic |
| Volum: | 11 |
| Número: | 6 |
| Paginació: | 862-869 |
| País: | México |
| Idioma: | Inglés |
| Tipo de documento: | Estadística o encuesta |
| Enfoque: | Analítico |
| Resumen en inglés | Italy has recently become a land of immigration. Two hundred and fifty thousand carriers are immigrants and chronic HBV infection is the prevalent form. Considering the elevated number of foreigners resident in our province and the potential risk of transmission to local people, we retrospectively investigated the patterns of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in 154 patients (76 foreigners, 78 Italians) observed in our Institution, with regard to demographic and clinical/laboratory characteristics. Results. The immigrants were younger (mean age 31 years) compared to Italians (51.5) and mainly came from East Europe. Regarding exposure to HBV, the intra-familial risk factor was most frequently observed in foreigners, compared to Italians (p = 0.03). Foreigners also showed a higher prevalence of HBeAg positive forms, HDV co-infection (7.9%) and abnormal ALT and/or HBV-DNA values, compared to Italians. HBeAg positivity was more associated with increased ALT (OR = 36.6, p = 0.001) than with elevated HBV viremia (OR = 6.5, p = 0.049); age was a protective factor (OR = 0.1; p = 0.014). No significant association was found between increased ALT and foreign nationality. The simultaneous presence of increased ALT and viremia was more frequent among foreigners, (OR = 7.6, p = 0,014) and increased with age (OR = 1.06, p = 0.013). Antiviral therapy was given in 7.8% of foreign citizens. Conclusion. Immigrants constitute a vulnerable population subgroup that would benefit from a more active approach regarding doctor-patient relationship for early recognition of HBV and treatment programmes |
| Disciplines | Medicina |
| Paraules clau: | Gastroenterología, Salud pública, Epidemiología, Virus de la hepatitis B, Virus de la hepatitis D, Riesgo de infección, Familia, Extranjeros, Europa Oriental |
| Keyword: | Gastroenterology, Public health, Epidemiology, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis D virus, Infection risk, Family, Foreigners, Eastern Europe |
| Text complet: | Texto completo (Ver PDF) |
