Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Dec 4:2:29.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-2-29. Epub 2002 Dec 4.

Further evidence for association of hepatitis C infection with parenteral schistosomiasis treatment in Egypt

Malla R Rao  1 , Abdollah B Naficy, Medhat A Darwish, Nebal M Darwish, Enrique Schisterman, John D Clemens, Robert Edelman
Affiliations

Further evidence for association of hepatitis C infection with parenteral schistosomiasis treatment in Egypt

Malla R Rao et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and schistosomiasis are major public health problems in the Nile Delta of Egypt. To control schistosomiasis, mass treatment campaigns using tartar emetic injections were conducted in the 1960s through 1980s. Evidence suggests that inadequately sterilized needles used in these campaigns contributed to the transmission of HCV in the region. To corroborate this evidence, this study evaluates whether HCV infections clustered within houses in which household members had received parenteral treatment for schistosomiasis.

Methods: A serosurvey was conducted in a village in the Nile Delta and residents were questioned about prior treatment for schistosomiasis. Sera were evaluated for the presence of antibodies to HCV. The GEE2 approach was used to test for clustering of HCV infections, where correlation of HCV infections within household members who had been treated for schistosomiasis was the parameter of interest.

Results: A history of parenteral treatment for schistosomiasis was observed to cluster within households, OR for clustering: 2.44 (95% CI: 1.47-4.06). Overall, HCV seropositivity was 40% (321/796) and was observed to cluster within households that had members who had received parenteral treatment for schistosomiasis, OR for clustering: 1.76 (95% CI: 1.05-2.95). No such evidence for clustering was found in the remaining households.

Conclusion: Clustering of HCV infections and receipt of parenteral treatment for schistosomiasis within the same households provides further evidence of an association between the schistosomiasis treatment campaigns and the high HCV seroprevalence rates currently observed in the Nile delta of Egypt.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Di Bisceglie AM. Hepatitis C. Lancet. 1998;351:351–5. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(97)07361-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yano M, Kumada H, Kage M, Ikeda K, Shimamatsu K, Inoue O, Hashimoto E, Lefkowitch JH, Ludwig J, Okuda K. The long-term pathological evolution of chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology. 1996;23:1334–40. - PubMed
    1. Alter MJ. The epidemiology of acute and chronic hepatitis C. Clin Liv Dis. 1997;I:559–568. - PubMed
    1. Kaklamani E, Trichopoulos D, Tzonou A, Zavitsanos X, Koumantaki Y, Hatzakis A, Hsieh CC, Hatziyannis S. Hepatitis B and C viruses and their interaction in the origin of hepatocellular carcinoma. JAMA. 1991;265:1974–6. doi: 10.1001/jama.265.15.1974. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kuper HE, Tzonou A, Kaklamani E, Hadziyannis S, Tasopoulos N, Lagiou P, Trichopoulos D, Stuver S. Hepatitis B and C viruses in the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma; a study in Greece using third-generation assays. Cancer Causes Control. 2000;11:171–5. doi: 10.1023/A:1008951901148. - DOI - PubMed