Detection of the Hepatitis C virus in a population of adults.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in adults from Criciuma-SC and to search factors associated with the viral transmission.

Methods: During a health campaign, a questionnaire about factors associated to HCV transmission and tests to detect HCV were applied. A representative sample of the population was considered with 300 voluntaries. Fisher's Exact test, Mann-Whitney and Kappa tests were performed (p values < 0.05 were considered significant).

Results: HCV was detected in 7/ 457 (1.53 %) voluntaries. Subjects with positive HCV had a mean of 5.7 (+/- 4.1 SD) sexual partners in the last 10 years, which was significantly higher than those with negative anti-HCV (mean sexual partners 2 +/- 2.5 SD) (p= 0.01).

Conclusion: The prevalence of HCV in a voluntary population of adults from Criciuma-SC was high and there was significant association between positive anti-HCV and higher number of sexual partners.