HCV-HIV Chronic Coinfection Prevalence in Amazon Region

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an important public health problem, especially in areas with a low human development index such as the Amazon region. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and genotypes of HCV among people living with HIV (PLWH), both neglected chronic diseases in the Amazon region. From March 2016 to June 2017, 433 PWLH were attended to at two sexually transmitted infection referral centers in the city of Belém, in the Brazilian state of Pará in the Amazon region. All individuals were submitted to testing via the rapid immunochromatographic assay (RIA) for the qualitative detection of anti-HCV antibodies. Samples with anti-HCV antibodies were evaluated by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and samples with HCV RNA were subjected to nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Three (0.7%) PLWH had anti-HCV antibodies, and only one (0.2%) had HCV RNA (genotype 2); of these, 31 (7.1%) self-declared to have used drugs at least one time, and 12 (2.7%) regularly use injected drugs. One participant was elderly, single, heterosexual, with a history of unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners. This study detected a low prevalence of HCV infection and recorded the presence of HCV genotype 2 for the first time among PLWH in the Brazilian Amazon.