High prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in Airin district, Osaka, Japan: A hospital-based study of 1162 patients.

Aim:   The Airin district, located in Nishinari-ku, Osaka, is known as Japan's largest slum area, and has the largest concentration of day laborers in the country. We conducted a large hospital-based study to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the district.

Methods:   The subjects were 1162 men (mean age, 57 ± 9 years) admitted to the Osaka Socio-Medical Center Hospital between April 2005 and March 2008.

Tuberculosis infection among homeless persons and caregivers in a high-tuberculosis-prevalence area in Japan: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem. The Airin district of Osaka City has a large population of homeless persons and caregivers and is estimated to be the largest TB-endemic area in the intermediate-prevalence country, Japan. However, there have been few studies of homeless persons and caregivers.

[Significance of tuberculosis screening of outpatients in areas with high prevalence of tuberculosis].

Objective: The Osaka Socio-Medical Center Hospital is a medical care facility located in the Airin area of Osaka city where the prevalence of tuberculosis is high, and treats day laborers and homeless people mainly, either free of charge or with a small fee. To investigate whether this hospital can play a role to reduce the prevalence of tuberculosis in this area, we investigated the case rate of active tuberculosis in outpatients of the hospital.

Subjects And Methods: Of 1673 patients who first visited the Orthopaedic Outpatient Clinic between March 31, 2005 and June 15, 2006, 538 patients consented to undergo screening and underwent chest X-ray examination (screening group).