1. Seroepidemiology of HCV-HIV coinfection in Tunisia.
- Author
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Kilani B, Ammari L, Marrakchi C, Letaief A, Chakroun M, Ben Jemaa M, Ben Aïssa HT, Kanoun F, and Ben Chaabène T
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Antibodies, Viral blood, Female, HIV Infections transmission, Hepacivirus immunology, Hepatitis C transmission, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Retrospective Studies, Tunisia epidemiology, HIV Infections epidemiology, Hepatitis C epidemiology
- Abstract
Aim: To determine the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a cohort of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and to compare risk factors., Methods: Multicenter retrospective study from infectious diseases department in Tunisia. We examined sera from HIV patients followed in these centers. Diagnosis of HCV infection was based on third generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test., Results: 362 HIV-1 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 35,5 years. 272 patients (75.13%) were male. Sexual transmission of HIV was the main risk factor (56.3%). 144 patients (39.7%) had antibodies against HCV, mainly in patients with history of intravenous drug abuse (78.4%). Quantitative evaluation of hepatitis C virus RNA was done only in 3 patients., Conclusion: HCV-HIV coinfection in tunisian patients occurs frequently, due to the same ways of transmission. More studies are needed to focus on sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus in order to prevent such infections rather than interferon-based therapies.
- Published
- 2007