Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Different Hemodialysis Units in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 97; no. 6; pp. 775 - 778
• Main Authors: Busek, Solange U, Babá, Elio H, Tavares Filho, Hélcio A, Pimenta, Lermíno, Salomão, Abraão, Corrêa-Oliveira, Rodrigo, Oliveira, Guilherme C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 01-09-2002; Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; alanine aminotransferase; alanine aminotransferase - hepatitis C virus genotype - hemodialysis - hepatitis B - hepatitis C - prevalence - Belo Horizonte - Brazil; Alanine Transaminase - blood; Belo Horizonte; Biomarkers - blood; Brazil; Brazil - epidemiology; Female; Genotype; hemodialysis; Hepacivirus - genetics; hepatitis B; Hepatitis B - blood; Hepatitis B - epidemiology; Hepatitis B Antibodies - blood; hepatitis C; Hepatitis C - blood; Hepatitis C - epidemiology; Hepatitis C Antibodies - blood; hepatitis C virus genotype; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; PARASITOLOGY; Prevalence; Renal Dialysis - adverse effects; Renal Dialysis - statistics & numerical data; Risk Factors; RNA, Viral; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Brazil; prevalence; hepatitis B; hepatitis C virus genotype; hepatitis C; alanine aminotransferase; hemodialysis; Brazil; Belo Horizonte
• ISSN: 1678-8060; 0074-0276; 0074-0276; 1678-8060
• DOI: 10.1590/S0074-02762002000600003

The prevalence, virological and epidemilogical aspects of the hepatitis
C virus (HCV) and the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections vary among
hemodialysis patients in different countries. Aiming at analyzing these
aspects of HCV and HBV infections in hemodialysis patients in Belo
Horizonte, MG, Brazil, we studied three hemodialysis units including
434 patients. Serology was used to detect anti-HCV and HBsAg. Reverse
trancriptase nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested-PCR) of the
5'-noncoding region was used to detect circulating HCV RNA and
restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for genotyping.
Seroprevalence varied from 26.5% to 11.1% for hepatitis C and from 5.9%
to 0% for hepatitis B. Risk factors observed for HBV and/or HCV
infections were the number of patients per dialysis unit, duration of
treatment, number of clinics attended, number of blood units
transfused, and lower level scholarity. Alanine aminotransferase levels
were altered with a higher frequency in HBV or HCV seropositive
patients. Half of ten patients, negative for anti-HCV, had detectable
viremia by RT-nested-PCR, indicating that this technique should be used
to confirm infections in this group of patients. The HCV genotype 1 was
the most frequently observed, followed by the genotype 2, but no
correlation was detected between genotype and clinical or
epidemiological data.