Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and evaluation of a health education program in el-ghar village in zagazig, egypt.

UNLABELLED Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an emerging global epidemic, some nations have been more drastically affected than others. Egypt reports the highest incidence in the world, with a prevalence rate of over 20 % (global average 3%). Despite the alarming prevalence of the disease in the country, awareness of the disease is still low. The objectives of this study were: 1-to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C seropositivity among the study group. 2-to study some risk factors with hepatitis C, 3-to assess the effect of the health education on the knowledge and concepts about hepatitis C. This study is a combined cross sectional and an interventional educational community-based study. It was carried out at El-Ghar village in Zagazig district from November 2006 to January 2007. A multistage systematic sample included 304 households above 12 years of age, using a predesigned questionnaire for assessing some potential risk factors (medical and lifestyle behavior ) and another questionnaire to assess the effect of health education on knowledge and attitude toward Hepatitis C problem . In addition, samples were collected to assess the seropositivity of HCV among the studied group. The results showed that the prevalence of seropositivity of HCV among the sample was 10.9%. The seropositivity of HCV was higher among males than females and increased sharply with age from 3.6 % in those below 20 years old to 30.9 % in older age (40 years or more). Those who were illiterate and farmers had a significantly higher prevalence. According to the logistic regression model, the significant predictors of HCV infection were previous infection with schistsomiasis, those who have positive medical history, followed by those shaving at the community barber, above 40 years and male sex. A highly significant improvement in knowledge in all aspects of HCV infection and also the attitude toward HCV problem (p < 0.000) was revealed. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Hepatitis C is a health problem in rural areas in Zagazig district. Health education program successfully improved knowledge and attitude toward this problem. The following is recommended: 1- Introduction of health education programs about HCV infection into the established health services 2-Surviellance activities to monitor the disease trend.