Sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Fátima Mitiko TENGAN, José ELUF-NETO, Norma de Paula CAVALHEIRO, Antonio Alci BARONE
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2001
• Subjects: Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C virus; Transmission; Sexual transmission; Prevalence study; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652001000300003; https://doaj.org/article/1715980a72ef40138dbf99ae64bd12a3

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.