ABSTRACT

In this study we aimed to identify frequency and distribution of hospitalizations due to infections of viral hepatitis (A,B,C), which are significant public health problems, at Gulhane Military Medical Academy. The data of 863 patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of "viral hepatitis" at the Department of Infectious Disease and Clinical Microbiology of Gulhane Military Medical Academy between 2002 to 2004 were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 24.4 years. Of all hospitalizations, 57.1% was in 2002, 23.1% was in 2003 and 19.6% was in the first 8 months of 2004. HBV, HCV and HAV infections were 77.8% (672 cases), 18.4% (159 cases) and 3.7% (32 cases) of all hospitalizations, respectively. Hospitalizations mostly occured in July (13.2%), March (12.9%) and April (12.9%), and 70% of all patients had no symptoms. The high rate of hospitalization with diagnosis of "viral hepatitis" during the first 7 months of 2002 is due to the lack of a specialist at a hospital and our study obviously displays the importance of the presence of a specialist at a hospital.

Keywords: Young adult, hospitalization frequency, specialist, viral hepatitis