Prevalence of Hepatitis Virus and HBV/HCV Interactions in Opiate Addict Subjects

Prevalence of Hepatitis Virus and HBV/HCV Interactions in Opiate Addict Subjects

Aims of the study were: 1) the assessment of the prevalence of HBV, HCV and HDV infections in opiate addict subjects; 2) the study of the viral interaction in vivo. Method: The study evaluated HBV and HCV infections in 1682 subjects assisted from 1990 to 2010. Outcomes: In 2010 the prevalence of HBV infection was of 42.3%; the number of HBs Ag carrier subjects was of 4,4%. HCV infection prevalence rose of 60.4%. The prevalence of the co-infection HBV/HCV was of 32.0%; during the co-infection phase, HBV infection spread earlier with a 2.8 higher probability than HCV infection. The RNA of HCV virus was positive in 25.9% of the cases of HBsAg carrier subjects. The RNA of HCV resulted to be positive among HBV infected subjects compared to HBV carrier subjects with O.R. 10.47.