Prevalence of antibodies to Hepatitis C virus in populations at low and high risk for sexually transmited diseases in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

In order to investigate the sexual transmission of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), the prevalence of specific antibodies in populations at high and low risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was evaluated. The population at low risk for STDs was composed of persons who voluntarily donated blood at the Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho (HUCFF) between July and November, 1990 (n = 2494). The population at high risk for STDs was drawn from an ongoing study on the natural history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (n = 210, 187 with sexual risk factors for HIV infection). All samples were screened using a first generation ELISA. Repeat reactive samples were then tested in a second generation RIBA. For all ELISA positive samples, two sex and age-matched ELISA negative controls were selected. Data pertaining to the presence of antibodies to the Hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBC antibodies) and to Treponema pallidum were abstracted from the medical records. The prevalence of RIBA 2 confirmed HCV infection among the blood donors was 2.08%, which is well above the reported prevalence in similar populations from developed western countries. Among the HIV infected homosexuals, the encountered prevalence was 7.96% (p < 0.0005). For the whole group with sexually acquired HIV infection, the prevalence was 8.02% (p < 0.000005). Anti-HBc antibodies were more frequently present in anti-HCV RIBA-2 confirmed positive blood donors than in controls (p < 0.001). 33.3% of the HCV-positive blood donors and 11.04% controls were found to be anti-HBc positive (p < 0.0005).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Infection With Hepatitis C Virus Among Health Care Workers in the Brazilian Western Amazon Region (Rio Branco, State of Acre)

“…4 Among other forms of transmission not extensively investigated in Brazil are nosocomial and intrafamilial transmission and transmission through inadequate tattooing procedures. 5 Among health care workers (HCWs) in Brazil, there are no studies on HCV transmission. In the Brazilian Amazon region, a high prevalence of infection with two other hepatotropic viruses (hepatitis B virus and hepatitis D virus) is observed, and a study also reported that this region is hyperendemic for HCV.…”

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among HIV+ men who have sex with men: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A final set of 42 reports presenting HCV prevalence among HIV + MSM yielded 43 HCV prevalence estimates. 10,14,25–62 Eleven reports provided 12 estimates for IDU HIV + MSM 10,25,33,35,37,40,42,51,52,55,63 and 26 reports provided 27 estimates for non-IDU HIV + MSM 10,14,25–29,33,35,37,39,40,42,45,47,49–52,<...>…”

Seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus among people living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review

“…Figure 2 shows the geographic distribution of PLHA coinfected with HCV in Brazil described in these studies. Notably, the southern region had 30 % of all cases [15, 17, 23, 25, 32, 39, 47], followed by the southeast (25.4 %) [19, 24, 44–46, 49] and midwest (8.9 %) [14, 35] regions (Fig. 2).…”