Linked Life Data

12010503

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/12010503

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2002-5-15
pubmed:abstractText
Currently, the most important risk factor for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Europe is intravenous drug use. To establish a better insight into the epidemiology of hepatitis C among intravenous drug users (IVDUs) in western European countries a systematic review on the prevalence of hepatitis C markers and their determinants was performed. Reports were identified by searches on Medline and on the internet and by screening reference lists of selected papers. The prevalence rates of anti-HCV in western European IVDUs reported in the 66 studies selected for analysis, ranged between 37 and 98%. No relation was found between prevalence rates and mean age, mean duration of intravenous drug use, geographical area, setting of the study, method of recruitment or the year(s) of collection of samples. Eleven studies concerning the prevalence of HCV-RNA in hepatitis C-infected IVDUs were selected for analysis. Prevalence rates ranged from 26 to 86%. Based on five studies, a statistically significant positive linear relation was found between the mean age of study population and the prevalence of HCV-RNA. Our analysis revealed considerable variation in prevalence rates of hepatitis C markers among IVDUs in western Europe. We found no conclusive explanation for this variability. Further research investigating the dynamics of the hepatitis C epidemic in IVDUs is necessary.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
1352-0504
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
9
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
157-73
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2002
pubmed:articleTitle
Seroprevalence of hepatitis C markers among intravenous drug users in western European countries: a systematic review.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of General Practice, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. marina.devis@med.kuleuven.ac.be
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review