Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, Yaounde, Cameroon.
J Med Virol. 2011 Dec;83(12):2113-8. doi: 10.1002/jmv.22225.
Heterosexual transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is uncommon, with few studies undertaken in Central Africa. To determine the frequency of inter-spouse HCV transmission, cross-sectional studies of elderly individuals in Ebolowa, Cameroon and Nola, Central African Republic, in which, respectively, 24 and 83 long-term couples had been identified, were examined further. Blood samples were tested for antibody to HCV. Anti-HCV positive samples were genotyped by phylogenetic analysis of a fragment of the NS5B gene. In Nola, 4 out of 9 (44.4%) wives of anti-HCV positive husbands and 1 out of 74 (1.4%) wives of anti-HCV negative husbands were anti-HCV positive (P < 0.001); in Ebolowa, the corresponding proportions were 10 out of 15 (66.7%) and 3 out of 9 (33.3%) (P = 0.21). After adjustment for age and site-specific risk factors of HCV infection, HCV seropositivity of the wives remained associated with their husbands' HCV serostatus, significantly so in Nola (P = 0.003) and marginally in Ebolowa (P = 0.06). In 7 out of 14 concordant seropositive couples, the genotype could be determined in both spouses. Four couples were infected with different genotypes, while three were infected with the same genotype. Thus, serological concordance between the spouses was related to a combination of infections acquired independently and inter-spouse transmission. It could not be determined whether inter-spouse transmission occurred sexually, through blood-blood contact, or otherwise. Inter-spouse transmission may have contributed to the high prevalence among elderly populations of Central Africa since some patients infected during healthcare subsequently transmitted the virus to their spouse.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）在异性之间传播并不常见，在中非地区进行的相关研究较少。为了确定配偶间 HCV 传播的频率，对喀麦隆埃博拉瓦和中非共和国诺拉的老年人群进行了进一步的横断面研究，这两个地方分别确定了 24 对和 83 对长期伴侣。采集血样检测抗 HCV 抗体。用 NS5B 基因片段的系统发育分析对 HCV 阳性样本进行基因分型。在诺拉，9 名 HCV 阳性丈夫的妻子中有 4 名（44.4%）抗 HCV 阳性，74 名 HCV 阴性丈夫的妻子中有 1 名（1.4%）抗 HCV 阳性（P<0.001）；在埃博拉瓦，相应的比例为 15 名 HCV 阳性丈夫中有 10 名（66.7%）和 9 名 HCV 阴性丈夫中有 3 名（33.3%）（P=0.21）。调整 HCV 感染的年龄和特定地点的危险因素后，妻子的 HCV 血清阳性状态仍与丈夫的 HCV 血清阳性状态相关，在诺拉具有统计学意义（P=0.003），在埃博拉瓦具有边缘统计学意义（P=0.06）。在 14 对 HCV 血清学一致的阳性夫妇中，有 7 对夫妇可以确定配偶双方的基因型。4 对夫妇感染了不同的基因型，而 3 对夫妇感染了相同的基因型。因此，配偶间的血清学一致性与独立获得的感染和配偶间的传播有关。尚不能确定配偶间的传播是通过性传播、血液-血液接触还是其他方式进行。配偶间的传播可能导致中非老年人群中 HCV 的高流行率，因为一些在医疗保健过程中感染的患者随后将病毒传播给其配偶。
