Hepatitis C in schizophrenia: screening experience in a community-dwelling clozapine cohort.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection occurs in up to 20% of patients with chronic mental illnesses. To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C in a diagnostically well-defined sample, the authors screened all schizophrenia outpatients in a clozapine clinic (N=98) for HCV antibodies. Eight patients were positive for hepatitis C antibodies (antibody-positive prevalence: 8.2%); of those, 50% had detectable viral loads (viremia-positive prevalence: 4.1%). Screening for HCV infection should be considered for outpatients with schizophrenia. However, clinical experience treating HCV in schizophrenia patients is limited; in this cohort, 2 years after screening, no patient had received interferon/ribavirin treatment.
Freudenreich
Oliver
O
Massachusetts General Hospital Schizophrenia Program, Freedom Trail Clinic, the Division of Infectious Diseases and Partners AIDS Research Center, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. ofreudenreich@partners.org
Gandhi
Rajesh T
RT
Walsh
Jared P
JP
Henderson
David C
DC
Goff
Donald C
DC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012254:Ribavirin; D007372:Interferons; D003024:Clozapine