The number of cases of hepatitis B infection detected in the Republic has increased dramatically, latest figures show.
The number of cases reported to the national Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) increased almost 30-fold between 1997 and 2005 with around 30 cases reported in 1997 and more than 900 reported in 2005.
And some 23 deaths here have been attributed to hepatitis B infection between 1994 and 2004.
In light of the increased number of cases in the State, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee is considering introducing a universal hepatitis B vaccination programme here. At present, only high-risk groups are targeted for vaccination.
Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable disease which can cause serious liver disease such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. It is spread by sexual contact with an infected person, sharing of needles and other drug paraphernalia by injecting drug users, accidental needlestick injuries or from an infected mother to her baby around the time of birth.
Details of the latest figures for hepatitis B cases in the Republic are published by the HPSC in the current issue of EPI-Insight, a monthly report on infectious disease in Ireland. It indicates the rates of hepatitis B infection in the State are influenced by immigrants coming from countries where the infection is endemic.
It says 1,626 cases were notified during 2004 and 2005. Some 74 per cent of these were classified as having "chronic" infection, 8 per cent were "acute" cases and the status of the remainder was not known.
The majority of chronic cases were among young adults whose infection was identified through voluntary health screening programmes for asylum seekers or through antenatal screening programmes in maternity hospitals.
But most of the cases classified as "acute" were among Irish born persons whose main risk factor was sexual.
The report notes that the rise in cases notified can partly be attributed to the fact that it was made mandatory for all laboratories detecting cases to notify them to the HPSC in January 2004.
Overall, it points out that the prevalence of hepatitis B infection in the general population in Ireland is low. However, it adds that infection "is more prevalent in certain high-risk sub-groups of the population such as IDUs [ infected drug users], prisoners, homeless people and immigrants from intermediate or high endemicity countries".
And it states that while the existing hepatitis B vaccination programme in the Republic is a selective programme targeting high-risk groups "there are often difficulties in successfully identifying and vaccinating those at risk".
Full details of numbers of hepatitis B cases notified in 2006 are not yet available. However, it is clear from weekly data collected by the HPSC that more than 830 cases had been reported up to the middle of December.