Introduction: Viral hepatitis is a major public health concern in Brazil. There are few past studies on this issue, especially among riparian communities. This study aims at determining the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis B and C in the riparian community of Pacuí Island, within the Cametá municipality of Pará State, Brazil. Moreover, this study aims to investigate the principal risk factors that this community is exposed to. Methods: The current study has accessed blood samples from 181 volunteers who have answered an epidemiological questionnaire. Analyses on serological markers have been tested with commercial ELISA kits for detecting HBsAg, total anti-HBc, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV. Within seroreactive patients for HCV, RT-PCR and line probe assay have been performed to identify the viral genotype. Results: In the serological marker analysis for hepatitis B, no reactivity for HBsAg, rate of 1.1% for total anti-HBc, and rate of 19.3% for anti-HBs have been observed. On hepatitis C, 8.8% seroprevalence has been found, in which 62.5% have gotten viral RNA. Among the risk factors studied, the following have been highlighted: non-use of condoms, sharing of cutting instruments, use of illicit drugs, and reports of family disease with HBV or HCV. Conclusions: The vaccination coverage against HBV is low, and the high prevalence of HCV within this community has been observed.

In the present study, we evaluated the prevalence of occult hepatitis B (OBI) in a population from the Brazilian Amazon region, identify circulating genotypes, and mutations in the S gene. One hundred eighty-one patients with negative serology for HBsAg and anti-HBs and positive serology for anti-HBc participated in the study. Detection of viral DNA, genotyping by sequencing, and analysis of nucleotide sequences to detect possible mutations were performed. HBV DNA was detected in 14.36% of the patients. Genotyping revealed genotype A in 88.46% of HBV DNA-positive subjects, with subgenotype A1 being the most prevalent (78.26%) followed by subgenotype A2 (21.74%). Genotype F was detected in 11.54% (all of them subgenotype F2). Amino acid substitutions were observed in the amplified S gene in individuals with OBI compared to HBsAg-positive individuals (evident infection). In conclusion, the results show a high prevalence of OBI in the population studied, with a pattern of genotypes A and F that circulate in the Brazilian Amazon region. Amino acid substitutions were detected in part of the S gene in patients with OBI. Further studies on the molecular epidemiology of HBV in this region are important to identify patients considered healthy but who are potential transmitters of the disease.

The prevalence of antibodies to HCV varies among Brazilian regions at rates of 8-16%. Since this virus is transmitted by the parenteral route through blood and blood products, patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis therapy are at an increased risk of infection. The study was conducted in seven dialysis centers in Belém, Pará, northern Brazil. Blood samples were collected from 798 patients with chronic renal disease treated by hemodialysis. The samples were tested for antibodies against HCV and the viral genotype was identified. Sixty-seven (8.4%) of the 798 patients studied were anti-HCV positive by ELISA, ranging from 4% to 14% in different centers. Viral RNA was detected in 5.3% (43/798) of the patients; of these, 42 also had anti-HCV antibodies. HCV genotyping revealed genotype 1 as the most common, detected in 86.1% (37/43) of the patients, followed by genotype 2 in 11.6% (5/43) and genotype 3 in one patient (2.3%). The findings of this study highlight the importance of control strategies for hepatitis C in hemodialysis patients. Molecular biology methods need to be available in these centers to screen for HCV on admission in order to establish effective infection control measures.

Epidemiologically, the relevance of infection caused by hepatitis viruses is related mainly to their wide geographic distribution and the large number of infected individuals in all parts of the world. In this study, 668 residents from the islands around the Tucuruí Dam were selected. Blood samples were collected for investigation of serological markers (HBsAg, total anti-HBc, anti-HBS, and anti-HCV) by enzyme immunoassays. HCV-positive subjects were tested using RT-PCR and RFLP for the identification of viral genotypes. Among the 668 subjects studied, 1.9% were HBsAg positive, 28% were total anti-HBc positive, and 41.9% were anti-HBs positive. The anti-HBs marker alone (vaccine response) was detected in 25.7% of the volunteers. Anti-HCV antibody was detected in 2.2% of the subjects and genotype 1 was the predominant genotype (70%). The results indicate an intermediate level of HBV and HCV endemicity in the region studied, as well as low HBV vaccination coverage.

The present results suggest a possible role of the -607 IL-18 gene promoter polymorphism in the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus infection.

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Introduction:The genomic heterogeneity of hepatitis C virus (HCV) influences liver disorders. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HCV genotypes and to investigate the influence of these genotypes on disease progression. Methods: Blood samples and liver biopsies were collected from HCV-seropositive patients for serological analysis, biochemical marker measurements, HCV genotyping and histopathological evaluation. Results: Hepatitis C virus-ribonucleic acid (HCV-RNA) was detected in 107 patients (90.6% with genotype 1 and 9.4% with genotype 3). Patients infected with genotype 1 exhibited higher mean necroinflammatory activity and fibrosis. Conclusions: HCV genotype 1 was the most prevalent and was associated with greater liver dysfunction.Keywords: Hepatitis C virus. Genotype. Histopathology.Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is often asymptomatic, but it is chronic in a large (85%) proportion of cases. Approximately 20% of individuals with chronic HCV develop liver damage, cirrhosis or cancer 1 .In Brazil, the seroprevalence of HCV is moderate, although rates vary among different regions of the country 2 . Genotype 1 is predominant, followed by genotypes 3 and 2 3 . In the State of Pará, the overall prevalence ranges from 0.5 to 2% among blood donor candidates 4 , and the genotype distribution is similar to that reported elsewhere in Brazil 5 .Hepatitis C virus genotype 1 has been associated with severe liver damage and the response to treatment 6 . However, other studies were unable to confirm this association 7 . Brazilian studies correlating the different HCV genotypes with histological and clinical presentation are scarce and have not confirmed an association between liver disease severity and HCV genotype 8,9 .The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of HCV genotypes in patients with chronic hepatitis C in the State of Pará, Brazil and to investigate the influence of these genotypes on the biochemical and histopathological parameters of the disease.

Os problemas relacionados aos medicamentos (PRM) constituem um sério problema que interfere na eficiência dos resultados terapêuticos, apresentando, na maioria dos casos, efeitos indesejados. Eles são responsáveis por aumento no tempo de internação, morbidade, mortalidade e aumento de custos em hospitais. Desse modo, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar a atuação do Farmacêutico Clínico na identificação de PRM em hospitais, identificando os problemas que são mais comuns e verificando quais as intervenções farmacêuticas mais realizadas em relação a estes. Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática, utilizando artigos da literatura nacional e internacional. Os artigos usados neste trabalho foram publicados no período de 2015 a 2020, indexados nos bancos de dados MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS e PUBMED. Tal revisão foi realizada seguindo as diretrizes do PRISMA. A estratégia de busca identificou 234 artigos, deixando 15 estudos para leitura em texto completo e incluídos nesta revisão. O farmacêutico atua em parceria com a equipe multiprofissional presente no ambiente hospitalar, especialmente, por ser o profissional mais indicado para solucionar problemas relacionados a medicamentos, por meio da verificação do tratamento medicamentoso, avaliação das prescrições e orientação farmacoterapêutica.