SCREENING FOR HEPATITIS B AND C SEROPREVALENCE AND PREVALENCE OF HIV INFECTION AMONG AFGHAN REFUGEES NEWLY ARRIVED IN COASTAL REGION TURKEY IN 2018: A SYSTEMATIC SINGLE-CENTRE ANALYSIS

Muhammed Ali Ayvaz, Selim Turfan, Tuğrul Kesicioğlu, Ahmet Cumhur Dülger, Arzu Ayraler, Abdüssamed Vural, Oğuz Dikbaş

Abstract


Introduction: Previous studies showed that refugee status have been associated with various deteriorated effects on human health including higher prevalence of hepatitis B, C and HIV infections. In this study we aim to bridge the gap between Afghan immigrants and naive Turkish population by identifying HBV, HCV and HIV profiles. In addition, a large number of laboratory parameters was collected for all participants, including hematologic and biochemical test results.

Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective review of laboratory records at a tertiary center in Northern Turkey from January 1, 2018, to April 15, 2018. Our population based study comprising hospital data of 403 Afghan refugees and 400 naive Turkish citizens. Results: Afghan refugees had higher anti-HIV seropositivity than Turkish citizens.(p<0.05).There were no difference between the two groups according to HbsAg and anti-HCV seropositivity.  Also Afghan refugees had statistically lower ALT levels, higher hemoglobin levels and higher mean TSH level (p<0.05). Mean T4 level did not show significant difference between the two groups.

Conclusion: We need further investigations to find out the risk of infections that originated from immigration.


Keywords


Immigrants, Infectious diseases, Viral Hepatitis, AIDS

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24125/sanamed.v13i3.265

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