INTRAFAMILIAL TRANSMISSION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS

Objective: To establish the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C vi rus (HCV) among relatives and other persons cohabiting with HCV carrie rs, as an indication of the risk of intradomestic transmission. Experi mental design: A transversal study of series of clinical cases. A ques tionnaire was applied to the index cases (IC) and contact cases (CC), differentiating sexual contacts (SC) from non sexual contacts (NSC). P atients: One hundred-and sixty four IC and 533 CC were:included. Infor mation on parenteral risk factors, type of sexual relationship, period of exposure, and other epidemiological variables was obtained, Antibo dies to HCV (HCV-Ab) were determined by 2nd generation ELISA. Results: In eighty eight IC (53.6%) no parenteral risk factors were found. in 99 IC (62.8%) a liver biopsy showed chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis. Tw elve CC (2.25%) turned out to be HCV-Ab (+), a ratio above that found in our city (0.3%, p< 0.001), however the comparison should be taken w ith caution, No significant differences were found with respect to sev eral epidemiological variables, including type of sexual relationship, and socioeconomic indicators, between CC HCV-Ab (+) and (-). Stage of liver disease in the IC and relationship between IC and CC did not in crease the risk of being HCV-Ab positive. In HCV-Ab positive CC a high er proportion of parenteral risk factors (p< 0.001), elevated ALT (p< 0.001) and sharing of personal tools (p< 0.01) were observed. Conclusi ons: lntrafamiliar transmission of HCV is poorly documented and it is related to the presence of parenteral risk factors. The actual prevale nce of HCV-Ab in a general population is unknown, rendering difficult to make definite conclusions.