Anti-HCV seroprevalence and risk factors of hepatitis C virus infection in Moroccan population groups

• Published in: Research in virology (Paris) 1996, Vol.147 (4), p.247-255
• Main Authors: Benjelloun, S., Bahbouhi, B., Sekkat, S., Bennani, A., Hda, N., Benslimane, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; AIDS; AIDS/HIV; Anticorps antiVHC; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; DNA, Viral - blood; Female; HCV antibodies; Hemophilia A - virology; Hepacivirus - genetics; Hepacivirus - immunology; Hepacivirus - isolation & purification; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C - epidemiology; Hepatitis C - immunology; Hepatitis C - transmission; Hepatitis C - virology; Hepatitis C Antibodies - blood; hepatitis C virus; Human viral diseases; Humans; Hépatite C; Infant, Newborn; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; Infectious diseases; Male; Maroc; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Morocco; Morocco - epidemiology; MST; Pregnancy; Renal Dialysis; Risk Factors; RT-PCR; Seroprevalence; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral - virology; SIDA; STD; Séroprévalence; Viral diseases; Viral hepatitis
• ISSN: 0923-2516
• DOI: 10.1016/0923-2516(96)89656-7

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence and transmission routes were investigated in several groups of the Moroccan population. This study showed a low HCV seroprevalence in the Moroccan general population. However, haemodialysis patients and haemophiliacs were at higher risk of having HCV infection, since the prevalences were, respectively, 35.1 and 42.4% in comparison with the blood donors' prevalence (1.1%). These results indicated that parenteral exposure is the transmission pathway of HCV. To investigate the possibility of vertical HCV transmission, a cohort of healthy, unselected pregnant women were included in the study. A prevalence of 1 % was found among them. Seven newborns were anti-HCV-positive, although, when RT-PCR was used to search for HCV RNA in their sera, none of them was viraemic. These data indicated that anti-HCV antibodies were passively acquired in these cases. We concluded that vertical transmission is absent when mothers are at low risk of contracting other parenterally or sexually transmitted diseases. Three percent of a group of patients of a centre for sexually transmitted diseases were repeatedly anti-HCV-positive, suggesting the possible sexual transmission of HCV. When screening 116 sera of anti-HIV-positive subjects, 19.8% were anti-HCV-positive. Furthermore, 17.9% of the sixty-seven patients who were proven to have sexually contracted HIV were also anti-HCV-positive. These data might reflect a likely cotransmission of these two viruses, hence suggesting HIV is a cofacter for HCV sexual transmission, as previously reported. Divers groupes de la population marocaine ont fait l'objet d'une étude de séroprévalence des anticorps anti-VHC. Chez les donneurs de sang, elle était de 1,1 %. Des séroprévalences plus élevées ont été retrouvées chez les hémodialysés et les hémophiles, respectivement de 35,1 et 42,4%, soulignant ainsi l'importance de la transmission par voie sanguine de ce virus. Pour l'étude de la transmission verticale du VHC, des femmes enceintes saines à terme, choisies au hasard, ont été incluses dans ce travail. La séroprévalence des anticorps anti-VHC au sein de ce groupe était de 1 %. Parmi les sept nouveau-nés de mères infectées, aucun n'était virémique (ARN VHC négatif par RT-PCR). Ce résultat serait en faveur d'une absence de transmission verticale chez les femmes non exposées aux facteurs de risques habituels (MST, toxicomanie par voie veineuse). Par contre, 3 % des patients consultant pour MST présentaient d