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Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Virus Markers among Malaria-exposed Gold Miners in Brazilian Amazon
Francisco José Dutra Souto; Cor Jésus Fernandes Fontes & Ana Maria Coimbra Gaspar
Abstract
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.
Keywords
hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, emigration and immigration, epidemiology, Brazilian Amazon
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