Aspectos epidemiológicos da hepatite C no Rio Grande do Sul, 2007-2012

Abstract

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) presently infects approximately 130 million people worldwide. HCV infections are usually asymptomatic and its evolution to chronic forms might cause cirrhosis and liver cancer. Rio Grande do Sul State (RS) presents the highest rate of hepatitis C detection among the States of the Brazil’s Southern region. In this context, this study aimed to present epidemiological aspects of hepatitis C in the RS State, between 2007 and 2012, through the descriptive analysis of secondary morbidity and mortality data available in databases of public access. According to the analyzed data, 15,874 cases of hepatitis C were notified in the evaluated period. Regarding the clinical form of these notifications, 71.59% were classified as chronic hepatitis C/asymptomatic carrier (HCC), 2.23% as acute hepatitis C, 0.15% as fulminant hepatitis C, and 26.03% were inconclusive or ignored. Considering the three clinical forms, 11,742 hepatitis C cases were notified, and the prevailing sources/mechanisms of infection were transfusional (17.90%), use of intravenous drugs (UDI; 14.32%), surgical/dental treatments (12.79%), and sexual (6.06%). In this evaluation, 44.60% of the notifications had ignored the source/mechanism of infection. Evaluating only the HCC notifications (11,364), the profile of infection mechanisms remained similar, being more prevalent in men (55.21%). Infections in men and women were more common through UDI and transfusion, respectively. The investigation of HCC notifications according to age group indicated higher prevalence in individuals aged 49-59 years old (54.82%). Among individuals aged 49-49 and 50-59 years old, the main mechanisms of infection were UDI and transfusion, respectively. Between 2007-2012, 2,148 deaths were attributed to viral hepatitis, being 1,716 (78.88%) assigned to chronic viral hepatitis. Of these deaths (1,716), 91.66% resulted from chronic hepatitis C, being most common in men (56.58%) and individuals aged 50-69 years old. This research indicates a similar profile between the RS State and Brazil. Chronic hepatitis C is considered as a global public health problem and, as there is still no vaccine available, prevention remains as primary strategy for reducing the number of new cases.