RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Recently, hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been recognised as being one of the most important cause of non-A, non-B hepatitis. Although parenteral transmission of HCV is wellknown, the risk of sexual transmission is still under debate. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to assess the HCV infection markers in sexually transmitted disease (STD) patients from an endemic area for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Additionally, we studied the prevalence of HBV infection markers in these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The sera of 121 patients with STD from Cluj-Napoca have been tested for antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV), Hbs antigen (Hbs Ag), antibodies to Hbc antigen (anti-HBc), by automated ELISA. RESULTS: Anti-HCV were detected in 26/121 (21.5%) patients: 73/121 (60.3%) patients presented HBV infection markers HBV infection markers (HbsAg and or anti-HBc) have been observed in 22/26 (84.6%) HCV infected patients. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of HCV infection markers in STD patients from Cluj is high (21.5%). HBV infection markers have been detected in 60.3% of patients. In STD patients form Cluj HCV infection markers have been correlated to HBV infection markers.
