[Hospitalizations due to hepatitis A, B and C in Austria 1996-1998].

The aim of this study is to analyse the data of all Austrian in-patients who had been hospitalized between 1996 and 1998 with the main diagnosis "viral hepatitis" (according to ICD 9), in order to present data for epidemiological as well as health-economical considerations. The data used stem from the "Minimum Basic Data Set" (MBDS) which contains medical as well as demographical recordings of every in-patient treated in an Austrian public hospital. Hepatitis A: Values of the standardized hospitalization rate (SHR) ranged from 2.6/100,000 (1998) to 4.7/100,000 (1997). On age classes, the highest values regularly were observed in school-children (7-13/100,000 per year). Significant differences between males and females were not revealed. Among the Austrian federal states, Vienna was found to jut out (6.8/100,000 per year), probably due to its high proportion of immigrants from high-endemic regions. Hepatitis B: Values of SHR were found to be stable with about 3/100,000 per year. On age classes, rates increased rapidly in adolescents, reached the peak in young adults (aged 20 to 29 years: 5/100,000 per year) and, then, decreased slowly. Males were slightly, but not significantly, more affected than females. Interestingly, a respectable number of young children (aged 0 to 4 years) were hospitalized in 1997 and 1998 (1998: 4.4/100,000). Comparing the Austrian federal states, Vorarlberg (6.4/10,000 per year) and Vienna (4.5/100,000 per year) yielded the highest values of SHR. Hepatitis C: In the years observed, values of SHR were ascending successively from 6/100,000 (1996) to 9.7/100,000 (1998). On age classes, the highest risk of hospitalization was found for adults aged between 35 and 74 years (10-20/100,000 per year). Among the Austrian federal states, values of SHR differed considerably; Salzburg (15.1/10,000 per year) and Kärnten (Carinthia) (12.1/100,000 per year) were found to yield the highest values.