Current Hepatitis Reports

, Volume 12, Issue 4, pp 288–296 | Cite as

Is There a Need for Cluster Hepatitis B and C Epidemiological Studies in the Region?: Yes

Global Perspectives: South America (MO Silva, Section editor)
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Abstract

Some arguments for community based prevalence and risk factor studies for hepatitis C and B in Latin America and The Caribbean (LAC) are offered. Background definitions about study designs are provided. Epidemiologic observations within a framework of risk factor pathways of chronic viral hepatitis C and B, suggest that LAC may be in an intermediate position regarding risk factor mix. Most of the evidence available is limited. Answers require more cross-sectional studies to understand current epidemiology and risk factors of both conditions.

Keywords

Hepatitis C virus Hepatitis B virus Community Risk factors Prevalence Cross-sectional Cluster Latin America 

Notes

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Jorge Insua receives money from a grant from the Ministry of Health, Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina and is a paid consultant for the Hospital Italiano de Mendoza at the time of this submission in Argentina.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the authors.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Hospital Austral, Department of Medicine and Health Information SystemUniversidad AustralPilarArgentina
  2. 2.School of Public HealthUniversity of Buenos Aires. (UBA)Buenos AiresArgentina
  3. 3.Health Systems Policy and ManagementUniversidad FavaloroBuenos AiresArgentina

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