Hepatitis C in Leprous patients: Genotype and risk factor study

Choi, Jae Phil; Lee, Kwan Sik; Lee, Yong Jae; Lee, Choong Hyun

Abstract

BACKGROUND: On previous reports, the incidence of hepatitis C in Korean leprous patients is too high (55.6~69%). We investigated the percentage of the leprous patients with hepatitis C, genotypes, and risk factors in National Sorokdo Hospital.
METHODS
Out of total 714 leprous patients in National Sorokdo Hospital, 147 selected risky patients (with abnormal AST/ALT, plateletRESULTS
The percentage of patients with hepatitis C was 30.61% (45 out of 147 selected risky groups). 35 male and 10 female patients (mean age: 71+/-9.6) were included. Classifying according to the type of leprosy, 29 (5.57% out of 503) were patients with lepromatous leprosy and 16 (11.94% out of 134) were those with tuberculoid leprosy. Genotypic result for 41 patients was 1b in 16 (39.02%), 2a in 20 (48.78%), other type in 3 (7.32%) and mixed in 2 (4.88%). Only 2 of the patients (4.40%) had experienced blood transfusion before 1990, 20 (44.40%) had taken an operation or tattooing, 3 (6.67%) were given intravenous drugs, 2 (4.44%) were family members as married couple, and as much as 20 (44.40%) had no previously known possible risk factors.
CONCLUSIONS
Major genotype of hepatitis C in leprous patients was 2a and it is different from that of other Korean population without leprosy (p-value= 0.0027). The percentage of patients with hepatitis C was not related to the subclass of the leprosy. Further studies for the non-blood transmission of hepatitis C virus in them and its controls are needed.