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Incidence of Blood-Born and Sexually Transmitted Infectious Diseases with Focus on HBV and HCV in the Central Bohemia Region.
VELEKOVÁ, Petra
Viral hepatitides B and C are among the most widespread and at the same time most serious blood-born and sexually transmitted infectious diseases. The World Health Organisation considers the incidence of both infections to be an epidemic and, according to its estimates, there are 2 billion of people infected by hepatitis B virus and over 170 million of people infected by hepatitis C virus worldwide. Viral hepatitides B and C are diseases infecting the liver frequently becoming chronic and presenting a major factor in hepatocellular carcinoma development. Acute hepatitis C allegedly develops into chronic condition in approximately 85 % of CASE, and around one third of chronic hepatitis C patiens develop cirrhosis and many of them a liver carcinoma. There is a direct correlation between the incidence of acute hepatitis B developing into a chronic condition and possibly leading to cirrhosis or a hepatocellular carcinoma and the patientś age, it is indicated at 90 {--} 95 % in neonates, at 25 {--} 50 % in 1 to 5-year-olds, at 5 {--} 10 % in older children and adults. These diseases also have considerable socioeconomic impacts. Vaccination has been the most effective preventive measure agains viral hepatitis B, so far, no effective vaccine has been found for hepatitis C virus. The fundamental precautions against both types of viral hepatis consist in non-specific prevention related to the means of transmission of infection, namely avoiding contact with blood and other body fluids of any infected person. Both hepatitis B and C are most frequently trasmitted parenterally, by means of sexual intercourse, vertical transmission is less common. Before the introduction of screening tests for blood donors, viral hepatitides B and C were most frequently transferred via blood transfusion. At present, intravenous administration of illicit drugs presents a major risk factor due to sharing needles, syringes and other instruments among users. The theoretical part of the thesis summarizes present day knowledge on viral hepatitides B and C. The practical part focuses on the incidence and means of transmission of viral hepatitis B and viral hepatitis C in the Central Bohemia Region within a 10-year period. I also aimed to examine viral hepatitides B and C transmission risks awareness, and safe-sex rules observation among a selected group of the Central Bohemia population.
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