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Heterosexual transmission of hepatitis C virus among married couples in southwestern Japan
Author(s) -
Tanaka Keitaro,
Stuver Sherri O.,
Ikematsu Hideyuki,
Okayama Akihiko,
Tachibaobuyoshi,
Hirohata Tomio,
Kashiwagi Seizaburo,
Tsubouchi Hirohito,
Mueller Nancy E.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19970703)72:1<50::aid-ijc7>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - hepatitis c virus , transmission (telecommunications) , sexual transmission , seroprevalence , odds ratio , medicine , virology , population , hepatitis c , flaviviridae , genotype , demography , immunology , virus , biology , antibody , serology , genetics , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , environmental health , electrical engineering , microbicide , sociology , engineering , gene
The heterosexual transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains controversial, and data from general populations are scanty. In this cross‐sectional study, we assessed the seroprevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti‐HCV) and the presence and genotype of HCV‐RNA among 109 married couples within an endemic, community‐based Japanese population. Overall, 25% of the husbands and 32% of the wives had anti‐HCV. Spouses with anti‐HCV‐positive partners were around 2 times more likely to have anti‐HCV than spouses with anti‐HCV‐negative partners ( p = 0.01). Of 6 couples in which both spouses had HCV‐RNA, however, 3 presented discordant HCV genotypes (type 1b vs. 2b). The couples' anti‐HCV concordance status was not significantly influenced by the presence or absence of HCV‐RNA among anti‐HCV‐positive partners (odds ratio [OR]: 0.8 for wives, 0.6 for husbands), nor by the length of marriage, the number of pregnancies or the use of contraceptives. No significant associations with anti‐HCV were observed for serum markers of sexually transmitted agents, including human T‐lymphotropic virus (OR = 1.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.5–2.3), Treponema pallidum (OR = 0.7; CI 0.1–6.1) and hepatitis B virus (OR = 1.6; CI 0.9–3.0). Our results suggest that the clustering of HCV infection among specific couples within this endemic population may not be attributable to heterosexual transmission. Follow‐up studies are necessary to determine the risk of heterosexual transmission of HCV in endemic areas. Int. J. Cancer 72:50–55, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss Inc.