Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant global health issue because it is widespread and persistent and can cause serious liver diseases. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to estimate HCV prevalence in women from the general population in different geographical areas worldwide and to assess the potential role of sexual behaviour in the virus transmission. STUDY DESIGN: Each participating centre recruited a random sample of women from the general population aged from less than 20 to more than 75 years. The study included 8130 women from 8 countries with information on sociodemographic factors, reproductive and sexual behaviour, smoking habit and HPV DNA through individual interviews. A blood sample was also collected to perform serological tests. We estimated the prevalence ratios associated to HCV to evaluate the effect of sexual behaviour in viral transmission. RESULTS: Women were reactive to a minimum of two HCV antigens, including at least one non structural protein were considered as positive (33% of the samples were classified as positive, 40% as negative, and 27% as indeterminate (N=402), that were considered as not positive). The age-adjusted HCV seroprevalence varied significantly by regions (0.3% in Argentina to 21.1% in Nigeria). We found no association between HCV prevalence and age, educational level, smoking habit and any of the available variables for sexual behaviour and reproductive history. CONCLUSIONS: This large study showed heterogeneous distribution of HCV seroprevalence in female and provides evidence of the null impact of sexual behaviour in HCV transmission.