Detection of the Hepatitis C virus in a population of adults

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in adults from Criciuma-SC and to search factors associated with the viral transmission. METHODS: During a health campaign, a questionnaire about factors associated to HCV transmission and tests to detect HCV were applied. A representative sample of the population was considered with 300 voluntaries. Fisher's Exact test, Mann-Whitney and Kappa tests were performed (p values < 0.05 were considered significant). RESULTS: HCV was detected in 7/ 457 (1.53 %) voluntaries. Subjects with positive HCV had a mean of 5.7 (+/- 4.1 SD) sexual partners in the last 10 years, which was significantly higher than those with negative anti-HCV (mean sexual partners 2 +/- 2.5 SD) (p= 0.01). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HCV in a voluntary population of adults from Criciuma-SC was high and there was significant association between positive anti-HCV and higher number of sexual partners.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fagundes,Glauco Danielle, Bonazza,Vicente, Ceretta,Luciane Bisognin, Back,Álvaro José, Bettiol,Jane
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto / Universidade de São Paulo 2008
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-11692008000300010
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