Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and HCV genotypes among hemophiliacs in the State of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil: analysis of serological and virological parameters.

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar par??metros sorol??gicos e virol??gicos em hemof??licos no Estado da Bahia. O anti-VHC foi investigado por ELISA em uma coorte de 268 hemof??licos A/B sob acompanhamento em uma unidade de refer??ncia do Estado da Bahia. A viremia do VHC e gen??tipos foram determinados em um subgrupo de 66 hemof??licos soropositivos para o anti- VHC. A soropreval??ncia do anti-VHC entre os hemof??licos foi de 42,2% (IC 95% 36,5-48,1) e foi associada significativamente (p<0,05) a idade >10 anos, presen??a de anticorpos antifator VIII/IX e outros marcadores sorol??gicos de infec????o. Nenhum dos hemof??licos com idade inferior a 5 anos foram anti-VHC positivos. A viremia foi detectada em 77,3% (51/66), sendo o gen??tipo 1 do VHC (74%) o mais prevalente, seguido pelos gen??tipos 3 (22%) e 2 (4%). Nossos resultados indicam que a preval??ncia do VHC ?? ainda alta entre os hemof??licos, muito embora a transmiss??o n??o tenha sido observada entre os menores de 5 anos.The objective of the present study was to analyze HCV serological and virological parameters from hemophiliacs in the State of Bahia. Anti-HCV was investigated by ELISA in a cohort of 268 hemophiliacs A/B who were followed-up in a reference unit for hemotherapy in the State of Bahia. HCV viremia and genotypes were also determined from a subset of 66 anti-HCV seropositive hemophiliacs. Seroprevalence among hemophiliacs was 42.2% (95% CI 36.5-48.1) and was significantly higher (p<0.05) according to age >10 years, presence of factor VIII/IX inhibitory antibodies and other infection markers. None of the hemophiliacs less than 5 years of age were anti-HCV seropositive. Viremia was detectable in 77.3% (51/66). HCV genotype 1 (74%) was the most prevalent followed by genotype 3 (22%) and genotype 2 (4%). Our results indicate that HCV prevalence is still high among hemophiliacs, although HCV transmission was not observed in young hemophiliacs