Serological, epidemiological and molecular aspects of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
infection were evaluated in 183 subjects from Londrina, Paraná, Brazil, and adjacent areas. Serum samples which tested anti-HCV positive by microparticle
enzyme immunoassay (MEIA) obtained from eight patients with
chronic hepatitis C, 48 blood donors, and 127 patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were submitted to another
enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) and to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). About 78.7% of samples were also reactive by ELISA, with the greater proportion (70.8%) of discordant results verified among blood donors. A similar finding was observed for HCV-
RNA detection by PCR, with 111/165 (67.3%) positive samples, with higher rates among HIV-positive subjects and patients with
chronic hepatitis than among blood donors. Sixty-one PCR-positive samples were submitted to HCV genotyping, with 77.1, 21.3 and 1.6% of the samples identified as types 1, 3 and 2, respectively. Finally, analysis of some risk factors associated with HCV
infection showed that intravenous drug use was the most common risk factor among HIV/HCV co-infected patients, while
blood transfusion was the most important risk factor in the group without
HIV infection. The present study contributed to the knowledge regarding risk factors associated with HCV
infection and the distribution of HCV genotypes in the population evaluated.