[Hepatitis C in Italy in 1992: analysis of individual reports]

The Authors examined the individual reporting forms of Hepatitis C infections received by the Communicable Diseases Reporting Centre of the Ministry of Health during the year 1992. Thanks to the adoption of a point estimator, 1448 cases of viral hepatitis C have been sorted out. The incidence rate of Hepatitis C has been, on the whole, 2.8 per 100,000, 3.9 for males and 1.9 for females. The highest incidence by age was observed at 20-29 y, and also among women aged 60-69 y. Moreover, the incidence was higher in the low socio-economic classes. Analyzing the data by geographical area, the highest incidence (11.8 per 100,000) was observed in the Basilicata Region, and the County of Potenza, in that Region, reached up 16.7 per 100,000.