The epidiemiologic profile of HCV infected Hispanic patients from the southern area of Puerto Rico since 2005

Seroprevalence studies in adults done in San Juan and Puerto Rico have showed 6.3% and 2.2% of the population respectively, are positive for antibodies to Hepatitis C Virus (anti-HCV). It is been suggested that Hispanics have a lower sustained virological response to current therapy. The epidemiologic profile, the response to treatment and the risk factors to the poor response to treatment of HCV patients have not been studied in the southern area of Puerto Rico.

This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from 46 medical records from January 2005 to March 2011. We search for sociodemographic variables, comorbidities, the HCV genotype, the human immunodeficiency virus profile, history of alcoholism and the patients who were treated with peginterferon alpha 2b and ribavirin, and their response to treatment.

Our HCV infected population is male predominant (63%), and the most common route of transmission were intravenous drug abuse (37%) and blood transfusions (33%). Only 37% reported alcoholism. The most common comorbidities found in our population were hypertension (35%), diabetes mellitus (20%), hypothyroidism (7%) and dyslipidemia (7%). Most common genotype found in our population was type 1 (61%). From the 46 patients, 10 patients were treated, being genotype 1 the most common.

Overall, our population showed an epidemiological profile similar to other Hispanic groups in the literature, which should motivate us to continue exploring these associations, in an effort to improve the management of these patients.