Imbeth-Acosta Pedro, Leal-Martínez Víctor, Ramos-Clason Enrique, Pájaro-Galvis Nehomar, Martínez-Ávila María Cristina, Almanza-Hurtado Amilkar, Rodríguez-Yanez Tomás, Bermudez-Montero Jorge, Vergara-Serpa Oscar, Abuabara-Franco Emilio, Raad-Sarabia María, Villar-González Erika Patricia, Tatis-Geney Steffany Isabel, Collazos-Torres Luis Adolfo, Rico-Fontalvo Jorge, Daza-Arnedo Rodrigo, Pérez-Calvo Christian, Alvarado-Castell Huber, López Acuña Gabriel Hernando
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Diagnostico y Terapeutica en Gastroenterologia y Hepatologia (DITEG), Cartagena, Colombia.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sinu, Cartagena, Colombia.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jul 4;9:814622. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.814622. eCollection 2022.
Infection by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important cause of chronic liver disease, considered a public health problem worldwide with high morbidity and mortality due to limited access to diagnostic tests in developing countries. Only a small percentage know their infection status and receive timely treatment. It is critical to make diagnostic tests for HCV infection accessible and to provide timely treatment, which not only reduces the spread of infection but also stops the progression of HCV disease without symptoms.
To determine the prevalence of chronic infection by HCV in patients with risk factors by using rapid tests in Cartagena, Colombia, and describe their epidemiological characteristics.
A cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out on asymptomatic adults with risk factors for HCV infection in the city of Cartagena between December 2017 and November 2019. A rapid immunochromatographic test was performed to detect antibodies, characterizing the population.
In total, 1,023 patients were identified who met the inclusion criteria, 58.5% women and 41.4% men, obtaining nine positive results, confirming chronic infection with viral load for HCV, finding seven cases of genotype 1b and two genotype 1a.
In our study, a prevalence of hepatitis C infection of 0.9% was found in asymptomatic individuals with risk factors, which allows us to deduce that the active search for cases in risk groups constitutes a pillar for the identification of the disease, the initiation of antiviral therapy, and decreased morbidity and mortality.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染是慢性肝病的重要病因，在全球范围内被视为一个公共卫生问题，由于发展中国家难以获得诊断检测，其发病率和死亡率很高。只有一小部分人知道自己的感染状况并接受及时治疗。使HCV感染的诊断检测易于获得并提供及时治疗至关重要，这不仅可以减少感染传播，还能阻止无症状HCV疾病的进展。
通过在哥伦比亚卡塔赫纳使用快速检测方法，确定有危险因素的患者中HCV慢性感染的患病率，并描述其流行病学特征。
于2017年12月至2019年11月在卡塔赫纳市对有HCV感染危险因素的无症状成年人进行了一项横断面描述性观察研究。进行了快速免疫层析试验以检测抗体，并对人群进行特征描述。
共确定了1023名符合纳入标准的患者，其中女性占58.5%，男性占41.4%，获得9个阳性结果，证实为HCV病毒载量慢性感染，发现7例1b基因型和2例1a基因型。
在我们的研究中，在有危险因素的无症状个体中发现丙型肝炎感染患病率为0.9%，这使我们推断，在危险人群中积极筛查病例是识别该疾病、启动抗病毒治疗以及降低发病率和死亡率的一个支柱。
