Risk Factors for Acute Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis and their Relationship to Antibodies for Hepatitis C Virus: A Case-Control Study.

A case-control study was carried out comparing 333 case subjects with non-A non-B hepatitis and 1095 hospital control subjects. Of 333 case subjects, 197 (59%) were positive for hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV). Excluding blood transfusion and intravenous drug use, surgical intervention and dental therapy were strongly associated with anti-HCV-positive cases: in particular, obstetric and gynecology surgical intervention was found to be strongly associated with HCV positivity (odds ratio [OR]=32; 95% confidence interval [CI]=7, 147). Raw shellfish consumption was a risk factor for antiHCV-negative case (OR =2.2;95% CI =1.0,5.1), thus suggesting an enterically transmitted virus in sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]