title: Hepatitis C and hepatitis B virus infection in different hemodialysis units in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
abstract: The prevalence, virological and epidemiological aspects of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections vary among hemodialysis patients in different countries. Aiming at analyzing these aspects of HCV and HBV infections in hemodialysis patients in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, we studied three hemodialysis units including 434 patients. Serology was used to detect anti-HCV and HBsAg. Reverse trancriptase nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested-PCR) of the 5'-noncoding region was used to detect circulating HCV RNA and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for genotyping. Seroprevalence varied from 26.5% to 11.1% for hepatitis C and from 5.9% to 0% for hepatitis B. Risk factors observed for HBV and/or HCV infections were the number of patients per dialysis unit, duration of treatment, number of clinics attended, number of blood units transfused, and lower level scholarity. Alanine aminotransferase levels were altered with a higher frequency in HBV or HCV seropositive patients. Half of ten patients, negative for anti-HCV, had detectable viremia by RT-nested-PCR, indicating that this technique should be used to confirm infections in this group of patients. The HCV genotype 1 was the most frequently observed, followed by the genotype 2, but no correlation was detected between genotype and clinical or epidemiological data.
authors.affiliation: DECBI, NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, MG, Brasil.
authors.forename: Solange U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Busek
authors.forename: Elio H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Babá
authors.forename: Hélcio A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Tavares Filho
authors.forename: Lermíno
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pimenta
authors.forename: Abraão
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salomão
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corrêa-Oliveira
authors.forename: Guilherme C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Oliveira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral; D000410:Alanine Transaminase