Estudo da soroprevalência da co-infecção pelo Vírus da hepatite C (VHC) em pacientes portadores do Vírus da imunodeficiência humana 1 (HIV-1) e/ou com SIDA/AIDS no Estado do Amapá

Abstract

In the present study, the seroprevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was investigated among Human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects from the city of Macapá, state of Amapá, Brazil. A total of 120 HIV-1-infected subjects were tested for the presence of anti-HCV using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All the patients enrolled in the present study were tested for plasma HIV-1 viral load and CD4+ T-cells at the time of acceptance to join the study. The patients responded to an epidemiological questionnaire at the moment of blood collection. Seven out of 120 tested samples (5,83%) were seropositive for anti-VHC. Concerning gender, four(57,2%) and three(42,8%) were male and female, respectively. The ages of HCV seropositive subjects ranged from 21 to 40 years for males and from 21 to 60 for females. Take into account the impact of co-infection on plasma HIV-1 viral load and CD4+ T-cells quantification it was not observed significant differences (Odds Ratio=2.7368, p=0.3624; Odds Ratio=1.7803, p=0.7764). The intravenous drug use and piercing showed to be important risk factors to co-infection (p<0.05). The results of the current study represent the first report about HIV-1/HCV co-infection in the state of Amapá, and highlight the need for continuous study aiming to evaluate the seroprevalence of HCV infection in Amapá and to detect the real clinical impact of HIV-1/HCV co-infection on the patient.