ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: Chronic hepatitis in children represents a serious health and social problem. Under the conditions of the high prevalence of viral hepatitis in Yakutia epidemiological process has a number of peculiarities. In children chronic hepatitis often occurs with minor clinical manifestations, which complicate diagnosis. The study of the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data is an important task.The aim of the study was to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of chronic hepatitis in children and adolescents living in hyper-endemic region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 1568 patients'data, registered in the dispensary with a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis in the period from 2000 to 2012. Epidemiological history data of 304 patients with chronic hepatitis were analyzed. The data from official statistics were used for epidemiological analysis. Processing of clinical and laboratory studies was performed using the statistical package IBM SPSS STATISTICS 19. RESULT: CH epidemiological features were identified, including the prevalence of HBV-infection in etiological structure, the high incidence of the disease among the indigenous population, a high risk of intra-familial infection with hepatitis B virus , high frequency of perinatal infection with hepatitis C virus. It was proposed to maximize screening tests for markers of viral hepatitis and to improve quality control of vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: The epidemic process of viral hepatitis in children and adolescents in Yakutia is characterized by domination of HBV-infection in the structure of chronic hepatitis. The predominance of the indigenous nationalities among patients with chronic hepatitis B and the leading role of family contact in the routes structure of infection transmission indicates the importance of ethnic and social factors in contraction of the disease.
