ASPECTOS EPIDEMIOLÓGICOS E CLÍNICOS DA HEPATITE C NO MUNICÍPIO DE FEIRA DE SANTANA-BA

Abstract

This study describes the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of hepatitis C in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. Among the objectives we sought to describe socio-demographic data, smoking, use of alcoholic drinks, anthropometric evaluation, diagnosis of disease, antiviral therapy and its results, risk factors, HIV or hepatitis B coinfection, hepatitis B vaccine efficacy and extrahepatic manifestations of hepatitis C. The data obtained relates to 175 patients followed in private and public health care institutes. Most patients were male (65,1%) with an age of 41 to 60 years (74,9%), mulattoes (66,9%), married (65,1%), living in the urban area (97,1%), with 12 or more years of education (53,7%), with family income less than five salaries (66,9%) and were followed in the public health system (64,0%). The proportion of cases of smoking, consumption of alcoholic drinks and overweight or obesity was 14,9%, 68,0% and 40,6%, respectively. Assessment of risk factors for HCV infection revealed ast history of reusing disposable syringes, sharing of manicure kits, surgery, digestive endoscopy, blood transfusions in 68,6%, 51,4%, 44,6%, 41,7% and 14,9% of the cases, respectively. All the patients had at least one risk factor identified. Definitive make-up was reckoned as a possible risk factor for viral infection. Around half of patients were waiting for achievement of liver biopsy or genotyping to initiate treatment. Among the patients submitted to antiviral therapy, almost half of them have not concluded the treatment. Genotypes 1, 3 and 2 were observed, respectively, in 54,3%, 21,1% and 4,6% of the patients. The favourable response of hepatitis B vaccine was determined in 29,8% of patients submitted to vaccination. HCV/HIV and HCV/HBV co-infection were observed in 3,4% and 2,9%, respectively. Extrahepatic manifestations were observed in 26,9% of the subjects. All the studied patients with hepatitis C had identifiable risk factor for viral transmission. Besides traditional risk factors, other contamination sources can be important as HCV risk factors. In this group, many patients were waiting for achievement of liver biopsy or genotyping to start antiviral therapy. HCV/HBV co-infection rate found in this study was similar to that described in the literature, whereas HCV/HIV co-infection rate was low to that related for others authors.