Resumen

GONGORA-BIACHI, Renán A et al. Frequency of antibodies against the hepatitis C virus in patients with hepatic cirrhosis in Yucatan, Mexico. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2003, vol.45, n.5, pp.346-350. ISSN 0036-3634.

OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence of antibodies against the hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) in a group of patients with hepatic cirrhosis (HC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective transversal and descriptive study was carried out from March 1998 to May 1999. Study subjects were 153 patients; 117 (76%) male and 36 (24%) female, diagnosed with HC. They were attended at the General Hospital Agustín O' Horan and at Regional Research Center Doctor Hideyo Noguchi, in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. A clinical-epidemiologic questionnaire completed by interview was used for data collection. Anti-HCV were detected using a 2^nd generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA-2). To confirm diagnosis, a second generation recombining immunoblot assay (RIBA-2) was used. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) and antibodies against the hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) were determined using ELISA. The presence of anti-HCV was related to the epidemiologic variables of study subjects. The prevalence of anti-HCV was obtained and the frequency of the characteristics obtained by interview were compared among the positive and negative patients through the c² test and the Fisher's exact test, as needed. RESULTS: Among patients with HC (35/117 (30%) male and 14/36 (39%) female), 32 % were positive to anti-HCV. Alcoholism was present in all seroreactive males and absent in all positive females (p< 0.001). Data obtained through an interview were not associated with seropositivity. Anti-HBc was found in 16% of patients positive to anti-HCV and in 12% of seronegatives (p=0.69). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence found was greater than previous reports in the general population in the Yucatan Peninsula (1.3%). The high prevalence of anti-HCV in these patients suggests that HC is more frequently associated with HCV in Yucatan, Mexico than hepatitis B. Alcoholism probably acts as a co-factor for the development of HC in males.

Palabras llave : hepatitis C virus; hepatitis B virus; liver cirrhosis; carcinoma hepatocellular; Mexico.

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