Hepatotropic viruses: Is Roma population at risk?

Table 1 The epidemiology of hepatitis A, B, C and E among Roma population in Europe

Region	Year	Population, N	(Sero) Prevalence	Acute cases/outbreaks	Ref.
Northeastern Greece	2007	124 inhabitants of Xanthi, Rodopi and Evros, mostly Roma		54% males, 46% females, age 2–17 yr	Vantarakis et al[16], 2010
Greece	2004–2013	295 Roma/995 confirmed cases		Median age 5.9 yr; 2007 outbreak: 139 cases, 82% Roma	Mellou et al[20], 2015
Greece	2009-2018	240 Roma/1193 confirmed cases		51.2% males, 80.4% < 15 years old, median age 7 yr; 20 clusters recorded among Roma; 2013: Greatest outbreak, 112 cases among Roma	Mellou et al[19], 2020
Athens, Greece	1999-2013	467 children hospitalized with hepatitis A, age 0-14 yr		HAV hospitalization rates per 1000 admissions, among Roma: 233.1 (1999-2008), 54.3 (2009-2013)	Papaevangelou et al[27], 2016
Western Athens, Greece	2002	216 children from two elementary schools, 118 Roma	Anti-HAV IgG: Roma children 98%, non-Roma children 33%		Michos et al[36], 2008
Slovakia	2008	667 cases reported to Epidemiological Information System database		536 cases in “low hygienic standards” areas; considered Roma; 4/9 outbreaks in areas with mostly Roma population; Lomnička outbreak (99% Roma population): 298 cases, 297 < 18 years old	Hrivniaková et al[21], 2009
South Bulgaria	2005-2008	3911 patients with hepatitis A treated in Clinics of Infectious Diseases, Plovdiv		Incidence rate in group living in poor hygienic conditions (mostly Roma): 450.66/100000; Outbreak in Stolipinovo quarter (2006); 1004 cases, mostly Roma	Stoycheva et al[24], 2011
San Sebastian, Spain	1995	73 Roma, age 2-16 yr	Total anti-HAV 82.2 %, total anti-HAV 50% in children 2-5 yr, total anti-HAV 92.7% in children > 5 yr		Cilla et al[25], 1995
Eastern Slovakia (9 regions)	2008-2009	59279 serum samples (13798were part of the pregnancy screening)	HBsAg overall 2.18%-9.07%; pregnant women 0.82%-4.13%		Kristian et al[33], 2013
Eastern Slovakia	2011	452 Roma, adult population	HBsAg 12.4%; anti-HBc 52.8%; HBV DNA 94.3%		Drazilova et al[34], 2018
Sheffield, United Kingdom	2007-2013	436 Slovak-Roma adult population	HBsAg 9.4%; anti-HBc 28%		Gregory et al[35], 2014
Western Athens, Greece	2002	118 Roma children	HBsAg 4.2%; anti-HBs 13.6%; anti-HBc 22.0%		Michos et al[36], 2008
Serbia (Belgrade and Kragujevac)	2010	240 Roma, age 20-24 yr	Anti-HCV 1.7%		Djonic et al[44], 2013
Eastern Slovakia, Košice region	2011	441 Roma, age 18-55 yr	Anti-HCV 0.7%		Veselíny et al[32], 2014
Western Athens, Greece	2002	216 children from two elementary schools, age 5-15 yr, 118 Roma	Anti-HCV 0%		Michos et al[36], 2008
Eastern Slovakia	2011	195 Roma living in Roma settlements, age 18-55 yr	Total anti-HEV 21.5%, highest in Roma men–29.4%		Halánová et al[47], 2018
Košice, eastern Slovakia	2018	175 patients hospitalized in Department of Infectology and Travel Medicine, age 19-94 yr, 11 Roma	Total anti-HEV 45.5%		Paraličová et al[48], 2020

HAV: Hepatitis A virus; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; HEV: Hepatitis E virus.