Clustering of hepatitis C infection among family members in Aden, Yemen

Abstract

Background Hepatitis C infection is one of the most commonly causes of liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver carcinoma. this study aimed to determine the clustering of HCV infection among family members of HCV positive index cases, and to determine the association between the internal and external risk factors and HCV infection among those members. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during a period from January to June, 2024. One hundred and seventeen family members belong to 26 index cases were enrolled in this study. Blood samples were collected from all family members, and then sera were separated and tested for antiHCV antibodies by using a commercially available Cobas technique based on ECLIA. Results Among 117 family members, the majority 55.6% were females. The clustering of HCV infection among family members was 7.7%. The highest rates were 9.6% among males and11.8% among members who were closely contact with female positive cases, 12.8% in age group 20–29 years and 27.3% among brothers but there were no HCV positive cases were detected among fathers, daughters, husbands. There were significant association between HCV infection and some behaviors of family members such as sharing the same sleeping places, nail clippers and towels with index cases and exposing to cupping (p = 0.0001, 0.002, 0.017 and 0.050) respectively. Conclusion The HCV infection among family members in Aden, Yemen was low in comparison with most studies globally. The highest rates were found among males, those in contact with female index cases, in age group 20–29 years, and brothers as relatives, but there were no positive cases among fathers, husbands, daughters and other relatives.