Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence and risk factors among patients with HIV infection.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors associated with HCV infection in a group of HIV seropositive patients. We analyzed the medical records of 1,457 patients. All patients were tested for HCV infection by third generation ELISA. Whenever possible, a sample of the positive patients was also tested for HCV by PCR. HCV positive patients were analyzed according to their risk factors for both infections. The prevalence of anti-HCV positive patients was 17.7% (258 patients). Eighty-two (82) of these patients were also tested by PCR and 81 were positive for HCV virus (98%). One hundred fifty-one (58.5%) were intravenous drug users (IDU); 42 (16.3%) were sexual partners of HIV patients; 23 (8.9%) were homosexual males; 12 (4.7%) had received blood transfusion; 61 (17.5%) had promiscuous sexual habits; 14 (5.4%) denied any risk factor; 12 (4.7%) were sexual partners of IDU. Two hundred four patients mentioned only one risk factor. Among them, 28 (10.9%) were sexual partners of HIV-positive patients. Although intravenous drug use was the most important risk factor for co-infection, sexual transmission seemed to contribute to the high HCV seroprevalence in this group of patients.
Mendes-Corrêa
M C
MC
AIDS Outpatient Clinic, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital das Clínicas, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil. cassiamc@uol.com.br
Barone
A A
AA
Guastini
C
C
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies