Prevalence of Viral Hepatitis C in Latvia I. Tolmane 1,2 , B. Rozentale 1,2 , J. Keiss 1 , F. Arsa 1 1 SA Infectology Center of Latvia, 2 Riga Stradin's University Background and aim: Viral hepatitis C (VHC) because of its prevalence and clinical course has become one of the most actual infectious diseases in the world. To date chronic hepatitis C affects over 170 million individuals worldwide. Chronic VHC is a leading cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate how many residents of Latvia, that are over 18 years of age have been exposed to VHC (anti-HCV prevalence) and how many are infected at the moment (HCV-RNA prevalence). Until now such research has not been performed in Latvia. Methods: From the register of general practitioners there were randomly selected 26 GP's from different regions of Latvia, 60 persons over 18 years of age were selected out of each GP register and tested for anti-HCV with screening test (ELISA). In case of positive result antibodies were confirmed with Western-Blot reaction and person was tested for HCV-RNA (PCR). Results: In total 1591 person was invited by general practitioners for the test and 1442 persons responded (response rate 90.6%). Confirming test (Western-Blot) was positive in 34 participants and out of which HCV RNA test was positive in 25 patients. Conclusions: There are 2.4% of people exposed to hepatitis C virus in Latvia and 1.73% are infected with hepatitis C virus, respectively, 1734 infected persons per 100 thousand individuals.