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BIBTEX RIS

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in north-eastern Brazil: a population-based study

2005; Oxford University Press; Volume: 100; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.trstmh.2005.09.009

1878-3503

Maria Alice Sant'Anna Zarife, Luciano Kalabric Silva, Maria Betânia Souza Silva, Gisele Barreto Lopes, Maurício L. Barreto, Maria Glória Teixeira, Inês Dourado, Mitermayer Galvão dos Reis,

Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

In general, the prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) are estimated based on the ambulatory clinic or hospital population. In the present work, a population-based study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of HCV infection in Salvador, Brazil. A total of 1308 serum samples were collected from 30 'sentinel areas', and the prevalence of HCV infection was determined by ELISA and confirmed by recombinant immunoblot assay and RT-PCR. The overall prevalence of HCV infection was 1.5% (20/1308). Prevalence was greater among those aged 35 years or older and those with more education. Genotype 3 was the most common (53.3%), followed by genotypes 1 (40%) and 2 (6.7%). These observations are different from those found in a prior survey of hospital and ambulatory patients in Salvador, who were most frequently infected with genotype 1, followed by genotypes 3 and 2, respectively.