title: Involved factors in the intrafamilial spread of hepatitis C virus.
abstract: To investigate the risk of non-parenteral HCV infection, sera from 302 relatives of 120 anti-HCV positive subjects were tested for the presence of anti-HCV antibodies. For the sake of comparison, sera from 17,000 blood donors were also assayed. The prevalence of HCV positivity was 4.3% in household contacts, compared to 0.78% in the donor population, indicating a significantly higher risk of infection for family members. Close personal contact may not be as critical a factor for infection as is duration of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Section, Covadonga Hospital, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Riestra
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suárez
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Navascués
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tevar
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lombraña
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D016358:Contact Tracing; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male