Hepatitis C epidemiology in the central area of Portugal. Prevalence of anti-HCV in the population of the district of Coimbra.

Authors

  • A Santos Serviço de Medicina III, Serviço de Imunohemoterapia dos Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra.
  • A Carvalho
  • D Bento
  • R Sá
  • J Tomaz
  • V Rodrigues
  • L Pais
  • A Porto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.3172

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 councils. 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 in larger samples of general population and to study risk groups.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

How to Cite

1.
Santos A, Carvalho A, Bento D, Sá R, Tomaz J, Rodrigues V, Pais L, Porto A. Hepatitis C epidemiology in the central area of Portugal. Prevalence of anti-HCV in the population of the district of Coimbra. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 1993 Dec. 30 [cited 2024 Mar. 29];6(12):567-72. Available from: https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/3172

Issue

Section

Arquivo Histórico