Is acute hepatitis B still a nosocomially-acquired infection in Poland? A case-controlled study of transmission routes in a hospital sample

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of medically linked risk factors for acute HBV infection in the Podlasie region of North-Eastern Poland. The records of 107 adult patients and 214 age- and sex-matched controls hospitalized in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Bialystok, Podlasie Region during the period 1997-2000 with the diagnosis of acute hepatitis B were reviewed. On multivariate analysis, household contact with hepatitis B [odds ratio (OR) = 18.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.0-165.5] and a history of injections (OR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.5-4.7) in the preceding 6 months were independently associated with acute HBV infection. In conclusion, our data indicate that despite a significant decline in the incidence of hepatitis B, injections are still involved in the spread of HBV in Poland.