Nished the therapy. At baseline, 13 patients had severe thrombocytopenia (19.40 ) and 38 patients had platelet count more than 150000/cmm. At the end of treatment, 6 patients remained with severe thrombocytopenia (8.9 ) and 53 patients had platelet count more than 150000/cmm (79.1 ). The statistical analysis showed significant increases of platelet count. Conclusions The most frequent hematological side effect during OPrD-riba therapy for HCV hepatitis was anemia with recovery after adjusting the ribavirin dosage. Sometimes, the discontinuation of ribavirin was necessary, without impact in efficacy of this regimen. In terms of platelet count a significant improvement was shown.BMC Infectious Diseases 2016, 16(Suppl 4):Page 45 ofA35 Behaviors, attitudes and risk factors for viral hepatitis in international medical students vs. the general population in Romania Yagmur Erturk1, Oana Sndulescu1,2, Alina Cristina Negu1,2, Claudiu Mihai WP1066 web chiopu2, Adrian Streinu-Cercel1,2, Anca Streinu-Cercel1,2 1 Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; 2 National Institute for Infectious Diseases “Prof. Dr. Matei Bal”, Bucharest, Romania Correspondence: Yagmur Erturk ([email protected]) BMC Infectious Diseases 2016, 16(Suppl 4):A35 Background The prevalence of risk factors, behaviors and knowledge on HBV and HCV infection varies in different areas of the world. We have performed a study to determine whether classical risk factors for HBV or HCV showed diversity due to different ethnic or geographic origins in two matched young cohorts: a heterogeneous study group of international medical students, and a control group from the general Romanian population. Methods We have performed a cross sectional study based on a standardized questionnaire and serologic tests to assess the prevalence of risk factors for transmission of viral hepatitis in two study groups. The Z-test was used for checking the statistical significance of the proportions of specific risk factors in the two groups. journal.pone.0169185 Results The study included 371 participants (77 in the study group and 294 in the control group). The median age of the study group was 25 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 24, 26.5 years), and 23 years (IQR: 22, 24 years) in the control group. The male-to-female ratio was 0.9:1 in the study group vs. 1:1 in the control group. The following risk factors for HBV or HCV transmission were significantly more prevalent in the study group: blood transfusion or organ transplantation after 1992 (p = 0.029), history of coagulopathy (p = 0.048), injected drug use (p = 0.048), having lived with someone with hepatitis B (p = 0.005), history of travel to countries with high HBV risk (p < 0.001), never having undergone screening for hepatitis (p < 0.001) or HIV (p < 0.001), history of unprotected oral (p = 0.004) or vaginal (p = 0.004) intercourse with more than one partner in the last year, occupational exposure to 1568539X-00003152 HIV/hepatitis (p < 0.001 each), tattoos or piercing (p < 0.001). However, the study group also presented positive health-related behaviors, such as: history of vaccination against hepatitis A (p < 0/001) or hepatitis B (p = 0.001), a previous negative result upon screening for hepatitis (p < 0.001) or HIV (p < 0.001). Conclusions The worldwide prevalence of certain risk factors for HBV and HCV infection is a serious issue that transcends nationality, gender, ethnic origin or educational level. Our results suggest that a global strategy for prevention.