[Hepatitis C epidemiology at a general hospital center. Management and natural history as a function of the manner of identification].

Objectives: To study the epidemiological characteristics of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus followed in a primary referral hospital and the clinical influence of "systematic screening" defined as the screening of patients without symptoms and with known risk factors of hepatitis C (past transfusion, past or present intravenous drug use, haemodialysis) on the natural history and treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus.

Methods: The files of 311 consecutive patients who screened positive for anti-hepatitis C virus and were seen at the primary referral hospital, Creil, from January 1992 to February 1996, were analyzed.

Results: Patients who underwent "systematic screening" were younger with a shorter duration of infection.