Epidemiology of hepatitis C in central Portugal. Prevalence of anti-HCV in the population of the Coimbra District.

Arsénio Santos; Armando Carvalho; Duarte Bento; Rosa Sá; Jorge Tomáz; Víctor Rodrigues; Luísa Pais; Armando Porto

doi:10.20344/amp.3032

Epidemiology of hepatitis C in central Portugal. Prevalence of anti-HCV in the population of the Coimbra District.

Authors

Arsénio Santos Medical Department III, Coimbra University Hospitals.
Armando Carvalho
Duarte Bento
Rosa Sá
Jorge Tomáz
Víctor Rodrigues
Luísa Pais
Armando Porto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.3032

Abstract

Anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) screening was performed in a sample of the adult population of the Coimbra District. 657 persons were included (267 male and 390 female, mean age of 42.7 + 13.1 years), aleatorily chosen from four characteristic regions. Anti-HCV was detected using an ELISA-2 test and all positive sera were also tested with RIBA-2. General prevalence of anti-HCV was 0.46%. All positive patients live in urban areas and presented risk factors for HCV infection. Anti-HCV was found in 33.3% of intravenous drug abusers, in 1.8% of transfused individuals, in 1.33% of alcoholics (higher than 80 g/d alcohol ingestion), in 1% of cases with history of surgical operations, and in 0.65% of persons who lived in risk regions for hepatitis B. We conclude that anti-HCV prevalence is low in our region. We think it is important to perform other studies on larger samples of general population and to study risk groups.

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How to Cite

Santos A, Carvalho A, Bento D, Sá R, Tomáz J, Rodrigues V, Pais L, Porto A. Epidemiology of hepatitis C in central Portugal. Prevalence of anti-HCV in the population of the Coimbra District. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 1994 Dec. 31 [cited 2024 Apr. 19];7:S3-S8. Available from: https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/3032

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Issue

Vol. 7 (1994): Suplemento 1

Section

Arquivo Histórico

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