Aseptic meningitis after vaccination with L-Zagreb mumps strain--virologically confirmed cases.
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Child, Preschool↗
Biomedical subjects
Vladimira Lesnikar
Publications and source records attributed to Vladimira Lesnikar.
[Viral hepatitis: Croatian consensus statement].
There has been a dramatic improvement in diagnostic procedures and therapy of viral hepatitis in the last 20 years. Improvements in therapy caused an increase in actual cost, however, with significant long-term savings through a decreased cost of treatment of advanced liver disease including liver transplantation. The Croatian National Board for Viral Hepatitis has decided to initiate the organization of consensus conference on viral hepatitis enabling the leading experts in the country to give the best possible recommendations for the diagnosis, prophylaxis and therapy in our circumstances. The Consensus Conference took place in Zagreb in June 2004, with update in March 2005, organized by the Croatian National Board for Viral Hepatitis, Reference Centers of the Ministry of Health for Chronic Liver Diseases, Infectious Diseases and AIDS, Croatian Society of Gastroenterology--Hepatology Section, Croatian Society for Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, and Croatian Institute for Health Insurance. Invited experts provided written reports on the respective subjects that appear in this issue and their recommendations resulting in this consensus statement.
Consensus Statements as Topic↗
[Epidemiology of hepatitis B and C in Croatia].
The incidence of HBV and HCV infection is hard to determine because of the high number of asymptomatic infections. According to data of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, there are 200 newly infected persons with hepatitis B and approximately the same number of newly identified HBsAg carriers occur each year. Accordingly, Croatia is among the countries with less than 2% of HBsAg carriers in the general population. In these circumstances, HBV infection is most often spread among adolescents and younger adults. The route of transmission is most often sexual (semen) or through the skin in high-risk groups. An increased risk of infection is found in newborns of HBsAg positive mothers, i.v. addicts, promiscuous individuals, male homosexuals, person in close contact with acutely ill or chronic HBsAg carriers, persons that come in contact with blood and other potentially contaminated body fluids, dialysis patients, patients with multiple blood transfusions, patients with transplanted organ or tissue, patients treated for hematologic malignancies and hemophilia, and persons who undergo acupuncture, tattooing or piercing, or travel to areas with a high prevalence of HBV infection. The estimated prevalence of HCV infection marker (anti-HCV) in the Croatian general population is more than 1% and the number of yearly infected with hepatitis C reported to the Croatian Institute of Public Health is around 200 cases. The highest incidence is found in the 20-40 age groups at a high risk of infection by the use of drug injection. At risk are persons who received transfusion of blood or blood products prior to the availability of blood screening of voluntary blood donors.
Adolescent↗
[Prevention of hepatitis B and C].
Preventive measures are determined by epidemiological characteristics of HBV and HCV infections. A significant difference between these two infections is in the availability of effective vaccine for hepatitis B. Vaccine against hepatitis C is not available. The vaccination program for hepatitis B in Croatia was initiated in 1994, at first only for high risk groups. The vaccination program for children in the 6th grade of primary school started in 1999. Besides that, all pregnant women are obliged to undergo HBV testing. HBV infection is very rare but not unknown in early childhood. HBV infection in early childhood, most commonly asymptomatic, results in very high prevalence of chronic infection and carries a high risk of late serious consequences of the HBV infection. Since the main aim of vaccination is to prevent serious chronic liver disease, it is very important to protect the youngest children. The prevention of hepatitis C consists of primary prevention, mostly eliminating the risks of the presence and spread of infection. It is recommended to follow instructions regarding prevention of transmission by skin and mucosal contact with blood and body fluids, especially in health institutions and during hemodialysis. Providing due education to high risk persons (i.v. addicts, persons with more than one sexual partner, patients and workers who come in contact with blood and other body fluids) is very important. Early identification of infected persons enables timely treatment. It is not recommended to screen general population but only persons at high risk identified by medical history and other relevant medical information.
Female↗