[Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in Slovakia].

Objective: To assess the prevalence of hepatitis C in the general Slovak population without any further evaluation or risk group stratification.

Material And Methods: A total of 3,608 remnant serum specimens from epidemiological surveys in 1997 (1,484 specimens) and 2002 (2,124) were analyzed. These were from randomly selected persons over 15 years of age from all over Slovakia.

First confirmation of Bordetella pertussis occurrence in Slovakia by using real-time PCR.

By application of the real-time PCR we manage to confirm the diagnosis and occurrence of a disease, which is caused by Bordetella pertussis-pertussis. Using this method we have proven the presence of DNA of Bordetella pertussis in the biological materials (nasopharyngeal swabs). The presence of IS481 genome sequence of Bordetella pertussis was confirmed.