title: Hepatitis C transmission between spouses.
abstract: To examine inter-spouse transmission as one of the potential routes of infection for hepatitis C virus (HCV), 121 patients with HCV-related chronic liver disease who tested positive for antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) and their spouses were studied. Of these, 21 (17.4%) patients had spouses with anti-HCV. In 12 couples, the HCV genotype matched (type II: 10 couples, type III: two couples). The genotype differed in six couples. One patient was positive for anti-HCV, but negative for HCV-RNA, while the spouse was positive for both. The remaining two couples were only positive for anti-HCV. Genetic heterogeneity in the hypervariable region 1 of HCV was analysed in 11 couples with matched genotypes. In two couples, no mutation was recognized in the putative E2/NS1 genes using the heteroduplex method. The present study provides evidence to verify household transmission of HCV between patients and their spouses. These results suggest that inter-spouse transmission may be a potential route of transmission of HCV infection. However, other environmental factors (e.g. the duration of the marriage) cannot be ignored.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Research, Kure National Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yonaha
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral; D018454:Spouses
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral