Sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus

• Main Authors: Fátima Mitiko TENGAN, José ELUF-NETO, Norma de Paula CAVALHEIRO, Antonio Alci BARONE
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2001-06-01
• Series: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Subjects: Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C virus; Transmission; Sexual transmission; Prevalence study
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652001000300003

In order to contribute to a better understanding of the forms of acquisition of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Brazil, with special emphasis on sexual transmission, we determined the presence of HCV infection in regular partners and in non-sexual home communicants of blood donors seen at Fundação Pró-Sangue Hemocentro de São Paulo from January 1992 to July 1996. Of 154 blood donors with HCV infection (index cases), 111 had had regular partners for at least 6 months. Sixty-eight of 111 partners were evaluated for HCV infection. Of these, 8 (11.76%) were considered to have current or previous HCV infection; a history of sexually transmissible diseases and index cases with a positive HCV-RNA test were more prevalent among partners with HCV infection. Of the 68 index cases whose partners were studied, 56 had non-sexual home communicants. Of the total of 81 home communicants, 66 accepted to be evaluated for HCV infection. None of them was HCV-positive, suggesting that the high prevalence of HCV infection among partners may be attributed at least partially to sexual transmission.