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Context: Viral hepatitis is a disease of compulsory notification and is very important due to its high prevalence., Objective: To analyze the epidemiological profiles of hepatitis B and C, reported through surveillance at the 'Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual', São Paulo, SP, Brazil, from January 2004 to April 2007., Methods and Results: The study revealed 112 confirmed cases of hepatitis B and 651 of hepatitis C. Male gender predominated among hepatitis B while female gender predominated among hepatitis C, statistically significant. Hepatitis B occurred mainly among patients from 30 to 39 years old (P<0.01), and hepatitis C was more frequent among patients from 40 to 49 years old (P = 0.49). Asthenia was the most frequent symptom. The main risk factors were: sexually transmitted diseases (hepatitis B; P<0.01), previous surgery and blood transfusion (hepatitis C; P<0.01). Cases were mostly confirmed through laboratory tests. Chronic hepatitis occurred in 54.5% and 81.7% cases of hepatitis B and C, respectively (P<0.01). Virus B was mostly transmitted by sexual contact (P<0.01); virus C was transmitted mainly by blood transfusion (P<0.01)., Conclusions: The findings were similar to national and international data available. Epidemiologic surveillance plays an important role in determining the viral hepatitis profile in order to provide adequate screening and prevention.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of a set of risk factors for non-transmissible chronic diseases and compare it to that found 15-16 years ago in a similar survey., Methods: A cross-sectional household survey was carried out comprising a random sample of people aged 15-59 years in the city of São Paulo between 2001 and 2002. The total of 2,103 people answered a questionnaire and had their blood pressure, weight, height, waist and hip circumferences measured. For a third of these participants, their total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels were determined., Results: The total age-adjusted prevalences in the study age group were as follows: smoking, 22.6%; uncontrolled blood pressure, 24.3%; obesity, 13.7%; increased waist circumference, 19.7%; total cholesterol >or =240 mg/dL, 8.1%; HDL-cholesterol <40 mg/dL, 27.1%; triglycerides > or =200 mg/dL, 14.4%; and blood glucose > or =110 mg/dL, 6.8%. Smoking, uncontrolled blood pressure, high total cholesterol, low HDL-cholesterol and high triglycerides were significantly more prevalent in men than women., Conclusions: The prevalences of a set of risk factors for chronic diseases showed men to have a poorer condition than women. In comparison to the previous survey, the prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure remained unchanged but the prevalence of smoking has significantly lowered.