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The epidemiology and trend in viral
hepatitis A, B, and C among Qatari
population: compared to regional and
Western Countries
Dr. Abdulbari Bener PhD ITMA MFPHM FRSS
(main speaker)
Organization/institution: Advisor to WHO
and Department of Medical Statistics &
Epidemiology
Mailing address: Qatar Doha
P.O BOX 3050
City: Doha
Country: Qatar
Tel: 4393765
E-mail:
ABener@hmc.org.qa
Abstract Background:
Viral hepatitis is
a major public health problem in many
countries all over the world and
especially in Middle East, Asia,
East-Europe, and Africa. The incidence
of viral hepatitis is also rising
rapidly in the Arabian Gulf Council
Countries [GCC]. AIM: With the
availability of routine serological
diagnosis of all major forms of viral
hepatitis, the aim of this study was to
assess the trend of various types of
viral hepatitis namely A, B, C, D and E
in Qatar and compared with some
available regional and Global countries.
Design:
This is a retrospective cohort
study.
Setting:
Hamad General Hospital, Hamad
Medical Corporation.
Subjects:
All Qatari and Non Qatari
patients, males and females who were
screened and diagnosed with viral
hepatitis in the Hamad General Hospital,
State of Qatar from 1995 to 2003.
Methods:
The Diagnostic classification
of definite viral hepatitis was made in
accordance with criteria based on the
International Classification of Disease
tenth revision (ICD-10). The obtained
information was based on the following
parameters: the age at the time of
admission, gender, nationality, types of
viral hepatitis namely A, B, C, and
medical care provided.
Results:
A total of 707 cases of
Hepatitis C, 549 cases of Hepatitis B,
220 cases of Hepatitis A and 57 cases of
unspecified were reported during the
year 2003. Reported incidence rate per
10,000 population of Hepatitis A was
3.0, Hepatitis B (7.6) and Hepatitis C
(9.8) which is quite higher than the
incidence rate of Oman. Hepatitis C was
higher in males (50.9%), while Hepatitis
A (16.2%) and B was higher in females.
The incidence of Hepatitis has been
increasing remarkably during the last
decade and incidence rate of Hepatitis
A, B and C per 10,000 population was
significantly high in the last two years
2002 and 2003 compared to previous
years. This could be due to the reason
that the year 2002 onwards notification
of the disease has improved with
laboratory based information and other
screening programs in the country.
Conclusion:
The study revealed that the
incidence rate of Hepatitis has been
increasing significantly during the last
decade, which shows that the screening
program was more efficient in the recent
years than the previous years. The
incidence rate of Hepatitis is higher in
Qatar as compared to its neighboring
countries, State of Oman and Saudi
Arabia, some Western Countries, but
lower than the incidence rate of African
countries.
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