BMJ 1996;313:461-464 (24 August)

Papers

Prevalence and determinants of antibodies to hepatitis C virus and markers for hepatitis B virus infection in patients with HIV infection in Aquitaine

F Saillour, resident in public health,a F Dabis, professor of epidemiology,a M Dupon, specialist in infectious diseases,b D Lacoste, specialist in internal medicine,b P Trimoulet, assistant in virology,c P Rispal, specialist in internal medicine,b E Monlun, specialist in infectious diseases,b J-M Ragnaud, professor of internal medicine,b P Morlat, specialist in internal medicine,b J-L Pellegrin, professor of internal medicine,b H Fleury, professor of virology,c P Couzigou, professor of hepatology and gastroenterology,b  for the Groupe d'Epidemiologie Clinique du SIDA en Aquitaine

a Unite INSERM No 330, Universite de Bordeaux II, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France, b CentreCentre d'Information et de Soins de l'Immunodeficience Humaine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France, c Laboratoire de Virologie Medicale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux

Correspondence and requests for reprints to: Professor Dabis.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus and serological markers for hepatitis B virus infection in patients with HIV.
Design: Cross sectional survey.
Setting: Aquitaine, southwestern France, 1991-94.
Subjects: 1935 HIV positive patients seen at least once since June 1991.
Main outcome measures: Presence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus were detected by second or third generation enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) and markers for hepatitis B virus detected by ELISA.
Results: The prevalence was 42.5% (823) for antibodies to hepatitis C virus, 56.4 (507) for antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen, 6.9% (133) for hepatitis B surface antigen, 30.2% (584) for antibodies to hepatitis B core and surface antigen with no detectable surface antigen, 26.2% (507) for antibodies to core antigen only, and 4.8% (92) for antibodies to surface antigen only. The prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus was 86.1% (726/843) in subjects who had bloodborne HIV infection and 7.3% (66/899) in those with sexually acquired infection. The prevalence of markers for hepatitis B was higher among homosexuals than in the other groups of patients, except for antibodies to surface antigen alone. The relation between markers for hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus was negative among men but positive among women.
Conclusions: The results favour the hypothesis that hepatitis C virus is sexually transmitted much less commonly than either HIV or hepatitis B virus.

Key messages

  • The prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus among HIV positive patients in Aquitaine was 42.5% and almost two thirds had a marker for hepatitis B infection

  • The prevalence among subjects with sexually acquired infection was 11.8 times lower than in the those with bloodborne infection

  • The relation between markers for hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection was significantly negative among men but significantly positive among women

  • Hepatitis C virus seems to be much less commonly sexually transmitted than either HIV or hepatitis B virus


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Brau, N. (2005). Chronic hepatitis C in patients with HIV/AIDS: a new challenge in antiviral therapy. J Antimicrob Chemother 56: 991-995 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Winnock, M., Salmon-Ceron, D., Dabis, F., Chene, G. (2004). Interaction between HIV-1 and HCV infections: towards a new entity?. J Antimicrob Chemother 53: 936-946 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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