Atanasova M V, Haydouchka I A, Zlatev S P, Stoilova Y D, Iliev Y T, Mateva N G
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Minerva Gastroenterol Dietol. 2004 Mar;50(1):89-96.
Viral hepatitis C is often silent and is sometimes discovered only by routine serologic testing. We investigated healthy adults for seroprevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV), for markers of hepatitis B (HBV) coinfection and for risk factors of transmission blood borne viruses.
We performed a descriptive cross sectional study for the period 1999-2000. A caseload of 2,211 healthy randomly selected subjects (aged 10-69, both sexes) from a big Bulgarian city gave informed consent for participation and answered a standardized questionnaire. Serum samples were obtained and tested using ELISA method for anti-HCV antibodies, HBV markers (HBsAg, anti-HBc and anti-HBs antibodies), as well as for anti-HIV-1.2 antibodies.
The overall anti-HCV seroprevalence was 1.08%, which coincides with the data submitted to WHO for the general Bulgarian population, as well as with the average data for Europe. Higher anti-HCV seroprevalence was ascertained with increasing age except in adolescents, in whom the anti-HCV positivity was high. A great part of the subjects with anti-HCV antibodies -- 62.5% had serological evidence for exposure to HBV. Anti-HCV carriage was in positive correlation with the summarized data for previous morbidity (surgery, blood transfusion and past liver disease), as well as with detecting markers for hepatitis B. In the studied caseload 0.68% had markers of double HCV and HBV infection. Nobody was found as seropositive for HIV-1.2.
The results of our study suggest the need of more stringent measures for prevention and control of HCV infection, including screening focused on different groups of population, precise determination of risk factors for HCV transmission and offering of HBV vaccine to HCV positive individuals to reduce the high risk of double HCV and HBV infection.
丙型病毒性肝炎通常没有症状，有时仅通过常规血清学检测才被发现。我们对健康成年人进行了丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）抗体血清流行率、乙型肝炎（HBV）合并感染标志物以及血源病毒传播危险因素的调查。
我们在1999 - 2000年期间进行了一项描述性横断面研究。从保加利亚一个大城市随机选取2211名健康受试者（年龄10 - 69岁，男女不限），他们均签署了知情同意书并回答了一份标准化问卷。采集血清样本，采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法检测抗HCV抗体、HBV标志物（HBsAg、抗HBc和抗HBs抗体）以及抗HIV - 1/2抗体。
抗HCV血清总体流行率为1.08%，这与提交给世界卫生组织的保加利亚普通人群数据以及欧洲平均数据相符。除青少年抗HCV阳性率较高外，抗HCV血清流行率随年龄增长而升高。很大一部分抗HCV抗体阳性受试者（62.5%）有感染HBV的血清学证据。抗HCV携带情况与既往发病汇总数据（手术、输血和既往肝病）以及检测到的乙型肝炎标志物呈正相关。在所研究的病例中，0.68%有HCV和HBV双重感染标志物。未发现HIV - 1/2血清学阳性者。
我们的研究结果表明，需要采取更严格的措施来预防和控制HCV感染，包括针对不同人群进行筛查、精确确定HCV传播的危险因素以及为HCV阳性个体提供HBV疫苗，以降低HCV和HBV双重感染的高风险。
