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.

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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 Nov. 12];6(12):567-72. Available from: https://actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/3172

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Section

Arquivo Histórico