Abstract
Viral hepatitis is a major public health concern in Brazil. There are few past studies on this issue, especially among riparian communities. This study aims at determining the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis B and C in the riparian community of Pacuí Island, within the Cametá municipality of Pará State, Brazil. Moreover, this study aims to investigate the principal risk factors that this community is exposed to. The current study has accessed blood samples from 181 volunteers who have answered an epidemiological questionnaire. Analyses on serological markers have been tested with commercial ELISA kits for detecting HBsAg, total anti-HBc, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV. Within seroreactive patients for HCV, RT-PCR and line probe assay have been performed to identify the viral genotype. In the serological marker analysis for hepatitis B, no reactivity for HBsAg, rate of 1.1% for total anti-HBc, and rate of 19.3% for anti-HBs have been observed. On hepatitis C, 8.8% seroprevalence has been found, in which 62.5% have gotten viral RNA. Among the risk factors studied, the following have been highlighted: non-use of condoms, sharing of cutting instruments, use of illicit drugs, and reports of family disease with HBV or HCV. The vaccination coverage against HBV is low, and the high prevalence of HCV within this community has been observed.
Highlights
Viral hepatitis is a major public health concern in Brazil
The objective of this paper is to describe the seroepidemiological profile of viral hepatitis B and C in the Pacuí Riparian community, located in the Northern region, State of Pará, Brazil
With support from the Municipality Health Secretariat and community agents, all adult inhabitants (18 years old or up) who live in the island and do not present any mental illness were made aware of the days that the team would be present and invited to take part in the study
Summary
Viral hepatitis is a major public health concern in Brazil. There are few past studies on this issue, especially among riparian communities. This study aims at determining the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis B and C in the riparian community of Pacuí Island, within the Cametá municipality of Pará State, Brazil. It may be reported that in Brazil, there is a major variation within the terms of prevalence of HBV and HCV, which is related to both groups studied and to the region itself. Seroepidemiological studies related to HBV and HCV in indigenous people and riparians in the Brazilian Amazon are scarce due to access difficulties in those communities. The objective of this paper is to describe the seroepidemiological profile of viral hepatitis B and C in the Pacuí Riparian community, located in the Northern region, State of Pará, Brazil. The major risk factors to which the community is exposed are analyzed to obtain knowledge about the epidemiology of these viruses within the population
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