title: Low prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected individuals from Slovenia and Croatia.
abstract: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the population of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1)-infected individuals from Slovenia and Croatia was determined. One hundred and sixty-six out of a total of 188 Slovenian HIV-1-infected individuals and 120 subjects who were randomly chosen out of a total 342 Croatian HIV-1 antibodies-positive individuals were tested for HCV infection. Detection of HCV antibodies was carried out by a third generation enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and the positive samples were additionally tested by a third generation immuno-blot assay. Additionally, the presence of HCV RNA was determined in all serum samples by a qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Twenty-four (14.5%) out of 166 Slovenian and 18 (15.0%) out of 120 Croatian HIV-1-infected individuals were HCV antibodies-positive. Nineteen out of 24 (79.2%) Slovenian and 13 out of 18 (72.2%) Croatian anti-HCV positive individuals were also viremic. HCV RNA was not detected in any of 244 HCV antibodies-negative/HIV-1-infected individual from both countries. A significant difference in the prevalence of HCV infection between blood (77.8% in Slovenia and 66.7% in Croatia) and sexual exposure risk groups (1.6% in Slovenia and 6.6% in Croatia) was found in both countries. In a study carried out on the highest proportion of entire population of HIV-1-infected individuals from a certain country or geographic region, Slovenia and Croatia were identified as countries with the second and third lowest prevalence of HCV infection among HIV-1/HIV-2 infected individuals worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Seme
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poljak
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Begovac
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vince
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tomazic
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vidmar
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kniewald
mesh_terms: D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000276:immunology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000150:complications; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications