title: Prevalence of anti-HCV among spouses and offspring of anti-HCV positive subjects: an Italian multicentre study.
abstract: The role of familial environment in the spreading of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is not well established. We studied 1670 family members for 578 anti-HCV+ subjects enrolled in 8 centres distributed throughout Italy. The prevalence of anti-HCV positivity was significantly higher in spouses than in offspring (15.6% and 2.1% respectively; p < 0.01), with no difference between northern and central-southern regions of Italy. Anti-HCV positivity was found almost exclusively in adults; among offspring, during the first two decades of life, the prevalence of anti-HCV positivity was significantly lower than in subjects over 20 years old (0.6% vs 3.1%, respectively).
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Internistica, Clinica F Magrassi, II Università di Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caporaso
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ascione
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Antonio
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Di Costanzo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galeota Lanza
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tremolada
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Diodati
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Rumi
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Parravicini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pastore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D018454:Spouses
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies