Hepatitis C among former athletes: association with the use of injectable stimulants in the past

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 2008-12, Vol.103 (8), p.809-812
• Main Authors: Passos, Afonso Dinis Costa, Figueiredo, José Fernando de Castro, Martinelli, Ana de Lourdes Candolo, Villanova, Marcia, Nascimento, Margarida Maria Pásseri do, Secaf, Marie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Basketball - statistics & numerical data; Brazil - epidemiology; Central Nervous System Stimulants - administration & dosage; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; former athletes; Hepacivirus - genetics; Hepacivirus - immunology; hepatitis C; Hepatitis C - diagnosis; Hepatitis C - epidemiology; Hepatitis C - transmission; Hepatitis C Antibodies - blood; Humans; injectable stimulants; Injections, Intravenous - adverse effects; Male; Middle Aged; PARASITOLOGY; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Soccer - statistics & numerical data; TROPICAL MEDICINE
• ISSN: 0074-0276; 1678-8060; 1678-8060; 0074-0276
• DOI: 10.1590/S0074-02762008000800011

This study was performed with the purpose of testing the hypothesis that the high prevalence of hepatitis C among former athletes is associated with their past use of injectable stimulants. The study involved the participation of 208 former professional and amateur soccer and basketball players from the region of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, who answered a questionnaire regarding their exposure to risk factors, including the use of injectable stimulants in the time they were engaged in sporting activities. ELISA tests were used to detect infection by the hepatitis C virus, and confirmed with PCR and genotyping for the positive cases. It was observed that the former use of injectable stimulants was a practice disseminated among the participants (24.5%), reaching 50.8% in the professionals. The overall prevalence for hepatitis C was 7.2%, with values of 11% among professionals and 5.5% among amateurs. In both categories, the presence of infection was markedly higher among those who admitted past use of injectable stimulants when compared to those who denied such practice (36% and 0.8% among amateurs; 21.9% and 0% among professionals, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that the use of those substances was the only variable associated with the risk of hepatitis C. This confirms previous observations, performed with reduced sample sizes and without comparison groups, which indicated that the use of injectable vitamins was a risk factor of hepatitis C among former athletes.