Fig 1.
Geographical locations of the study sites.
Phetchabun and Khon Kaen are adjacent provinces with different HCV prevalence. The districts of Lom Kao and Lom Sak in Phetchabun and Chum Phae in Khon Kaen are divided into administrative sub-districts. Sub-districts are shown in different colors in which light blue denotes relatively low (<1.0%) and red denotes relatively high (>30%) HCV seroprevalence. Regions with no data are denoted white.
Fig 2.
Schematic diagram of this HCV study.
Data obtained from individuals between 30 to 64 years residing in Lom Sak and Lom Kao in Phetchabun and Chum Phae in Khon Kaen were analyzed. Samples tested positive for anti-HCV antibodies were further evaluated for HBV and HIV co-infection. HCV RNA was isolated and the virus genotyped by RT-PCR, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis.
Table 1.
Demographic data of individuals in Phetchabun and Khon Kaen in this HCV seroprevalence study.
Table 2.
Univariate analysis of factors associated with HCV infection in Phetchabun and Khon Kaen.
Table 3.
Multivariate analysis of factors associated with HCV infection in Phetchabun and Khon Kaen.
Fig 3.
Anti-HCV seroprevalence in Phetchabun and Khon Kaen in this study compared to data from the national survey in 2014.
HCV seroprevalence is indicated by the line graphs (left scale). The number of individuals according to age groups included in the study is represented by the bar graphs (right scale).
Table 4.
HCV genotypes relative to gender and age by province.
Fig 4.
Receiving operating curve (ROC) of HCV screening score.
The ROC represents an area under the curve (AUC) of HCV screening tool derived from factors associated with HCV infection. To maximize ascertainment of individuals with HCV, the cut-off score at 6 was chosen for the relatively high sensitivity at the expense of specificity.