Abstract
Diyarbakir is the largest residential area in the Southeastern Anatolia of Turkey. Routine HBV vaccination has begun to be implemented by the Ministry of Health in Turkey in 1998. The purposes of this study were to detect the levels of HBV DNA in patients with HBV in 2012, and to compare the results of the year 2002 according to age groups. HBV DNA results of patients were divided in to seven age groups (0-14, 15-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, and > 61 years) and for comparison of HBV DNA levels of 2002 and 2012, HBV DNA values in pg/ml of year 2002 were translated into IU/ml and HBV DNA levels were grouped as < 5 pg/ml < 2.43 × 10(5) IU/ml, 5-100 pg/ml 2.43 × 10(5)-4.86 × 106 IU/ ml, 101-2000 pg/ml 4.87 × 10(6)-9.72 × 10(7) IU/ml, > 2000 pg/ml > 9.72 × 10(7) IU/ml 2-3. A statistically significant decrease was seen in the number of individuals in 0-14 age group in 2012 compared with 2002. In 2002 the rate of individuals in 0-14 age group was 18.8% whereas 4.8% in 2012. Our study was suggested that that routine HBV vaccination program, contributed to the reduced risk of HBV infection in our region.