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Hepatitis C virus infection and assisted reproduction
E Pandolfi Passos1, T R Silveira, C C Salazar
1Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 90035-003, Brasil.
Background:
In assisted reproduction, hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission may pose a risk for the baby, technicians, and gametes or embryos from non-contaminated parents. This study aimed at determining the prevalence and risk factors for HCV infection in a group of infertile couples.
Methods:
HCV infection was investigated in 409 patients attending the infertility clinic at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, between 1997 and 1998. Serum was screened for anti-HCV using ELISA and for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) using an enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA). HCV infection and semen viraemia was also investigated using HCV RNA detection.
Results:
The overall prevalence of anti-HCV was 3.2% (8/248) among women and 3.7% (6/161) among men. All subjects were negative for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). From the 14 HCV-positive patients, two were lost, and serum was collected from the remaining 12 patients for assessment of HCV RNA, resulting in five HCV-positive cases (one woman and four men). Only one of the HCV-positive men had viraemia levels >500 000 RNA copies/ml. There was a significant risk associated with being HCV-positive in women with HCV-positive male partners (P < 0.001). In male patients, the correlation between use of intravenous drugs and HCV-positivity was also significant (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Since the risk for vertical and laboratory HCV infection is not well determined, and HCV prevalence is not negligible in this group, we recommend that infertile patients be screened before assisted reproductive techniques.