title: Sexual Transmission of HCV in Heterologous Monogamous Spouses.
abstract: We screened for evidence of HCV infection in healthy heterologous monogamous spouses of chronic HCV patients and studied the relation with various risk factors. A cross-sectional study of fifty healthy monogamous heterosexual spouses of HCV-positive index cases was carried out. All participants were HBV and HIV negative. The association with various risk factors was studied. Five spouses (10%) showed evidence of HCV infection. Two partners were positive for HCV antibody alone (4%) and 3 for antibody and HCV PCR (6%). No association was found between HCV infection and various sociodemographic parameters with the exception of older age categories. Intraspousal transmission of HCV may be an important source of spread of HCV infection. The reservoir of HCV-infected individuals in Egypt is sizable, and sexual transmission of HCV may contribute to the total burden of infection in Egypt.
authors: Clinical and Chemical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
authors: Mona M
authors: MM
authors: Rafik
authors: General Medicine & Gastroenterology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Abbassia Square, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
authors: Yehia
authors: Y
authors: El Shazly
authors: Clinical and Chemical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
authors: Amal A
authors: AA
authors: Abbas
authors: Clinical and Chemical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
authors: Walid
authors: W
authors: Abd Elhady
authors: Clinical and Chemical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
authors: Dina
authors: D
authors: Ragab
authors: Clinical and Chemical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
authors: Dina
authors: D
authors: AlShennawy