Avaliação da prevalência do vírus da hepatite C através do teste rápido em usuários de Serviços Públicos de Saúde de Campina Grande-PB.

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic hepatitis C is a silent disease that can lead to outcomes such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, constituting a public health problem due to the high universal morbidity. It is transmitted by a single-stranded ribonucleic acid virus, discovered in 1989 through studies with contaminated chimpanzees. Unsafe health practices, intravenous illicit drug use and tattoos are among the main risk factors for transmitting this virus. Currently, it is estimated that 71 million people are infected worldwide, in Brazil, the prevalence of 0.7% indicates that 1,032,000 individuals are infected. With agile execution and prompt availability of results, Rapid Tests facilitate epidemiological studies and early diagnosis of liver involvement, allowing the modification of the natural history of the disease. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of Anti-HCV antibodies and epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis C in users of public health services in Campina Grande-PB. Methods: Observational prospective cross-sectional study, from February 2015 to July 2018. Individuals born between 1945 and 1970 who sought health services voluntarily were submitted to structured questionnaires and the Bioeasy® Anti-HCV Rapid Test. Results: 385 individuals were studied, showing a prevalence of Anti-HCV antibodies of 1.84% (n=7). Of the respondents, most (29.7%) were aged between 45 and 50 years and 67.7% were female. Intravenous illicit drug use, tattoos and male sex were the most statistically significant risk factors in the studied population. Conclusion: A prevalence higher than that estimated for the country was found, which highlights the need to implement strategies aimed at detecting early detection of virus carriers.