Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus markers among malaria-exposed gold miners in Brazilian Amazon

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

Francisco José Dutra Souto¹  Cor Jésus Fernandes Fontes¹  Ana Maria Coimbra Gaspar¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Faculdade de Ciências Médicas Núcleo de Estudos de Doenças Infecciosas e TropicaisCuiabá MT ,Brasil

关键词: hepatitis B virus;    hepatitis C virus;    emigration and immigration;    epidemiology;    Brazilian Amazon;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0074-02762001000600001

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Hepatitis B and C virus markers were assessed during a survey on malaria in gold mine camps in southern Brazilian Amazon in order to identify risk factors associated to these viral diseases. The study comprised 520 subjects, most of them were gold miners. Missing subjects totaled 49 (8.6%). Among these 520, 82.9% had HBV markers and 7.1% were HBsAg positive. Previous hospitalization, surgery, sexually transmitted diseases and incarceration were quite common among surveyed people, but there is no association between total HBV markers and these factors. On other hand, HBsAg was independently associated to history of sexually transmitted diseases and history of surgery after adjustment. The most frequent HBsAg subtypes identified, adw2 (59%), predominates in populations of Northeast Brazil. The most surveyed people were immigrants coming from that area suggesting that immigrants carried HBV themselves to the study area. Immunoblot (RIBA) confirmed-anti-HCV were found in 2.1%. The only variable associated to anti-HCV in multivariate analysis was illicit intravenous drug. Lack of HCV infection in subjects with such a high HBV markers prevalence reinforces the opinion that HCV is transmitted by restricted routes when compared to HBV. Furthermore, gold miners in Amazon may be considered as a risk group for HBV infection, but not for HCV.

【 授权许可】

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