[Infection of C type hepatitis virus in patients with alcoholism. Studied by serum HCV antibody of C100-3 and 2nd generation].

Abstract

To investigate the infectious situation and causes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients with alcoholism, C100-3 antibody (C100-3) and HCV antibody of the 2nd generation (HCV-2nd) were examined on admission, and the factors that affected the infection of HCV were studied in 226 alcoholics. The positive rate of anti-HCV was as high as 16.4% by C100-3 and much higher by HCV-2nd as 33.2%. The incidence of cases with the history for blood transfusion, drug addict and/or tattoos in alcoholics was as high as 39.4% (89/226). To clarify the influence of the background such as blood transfusion, drug addict and/or tattoos on HCV infection, the positive rate of anti-HCV was compared between those with the background and without the background. In alcoholics without the backgrounds, the positive rate of C100-3 and HCV-2nd were significantly (p less than 0.001) higher than patients without the backgrounds, namely 27.0% vs 9.5%, 56.2% vs 18.2%, respectively. In alcoholics without the backgrounds, the positive rate of anti-HCV became higher in proportion as the age of the patients grows older from 20 to 60 years. These results suggest that a high incidence of HCV infection in alcoholics may resulted from increased the backgrounds that can provide chances of HCV infection and that in those without the backgrounds, alcohol and aging may lead the tolerance to HCV infection.