Social Networks Shape the Transmission Dynamics of Hepatitis C Virus

Autor(es)

Romano, Camila Malta ^[1] ; Guedes de Carvalho-Mello, Isabel M. V. ^{[2, 3]} ; Jamal, Leda F. ^[4] ; de Melo, Fernando Lucas ^[1] ; Iamarino, Atila ^[1] ; Motoki, Marco ^[1] ; Rebello Pinho, Joao Renato ^[3] ; Holmes, Edward C. ^{[5, 6]} ; de Andrade Zanotto, Paolo Marinho ^[1] ; Consortium, VGDN

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Microbiol, Inst Biomed Sci, Lab Mol Evolut & Bioinformat, ICBII, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Butantan Inst, Viral Immunol Lab, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Lab Trop Gastroenterol & Hepatol, Dept Gastroenterol, Inst Trop Med, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Ctr Dis Control, Training & Reference Ctr DST AIDS, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Penn State Univ, Dept Biol, Mueller Lab, Ctr Infect Dis Dynam, University Pk, PA 16802 - USA

^[6] NIH, Fogarty Int Ctr, Bethesda, MD 20892 - USA

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PLoS One; v. 5, n. 6, p. e11170, 2010.
• Citações Web of Science: 33

Resumo

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects 170 million people worldwide, and is a major public health problem in Brazil, where over 1% of the population may be infected and where multiple viral genotypes co-circulate. Chronically infected individuals are both the source of transmission to others and are at risk for HCV-related diseases, such as liver cancer and cirrhosis. Before the adoption of anti-HCV control measures in blood banks, this virus was mainly transmitted via blood transfusion. Today, needle sharing among injecting drug users is the most common form of HCV transmission. Of particular importance is that HCV prevalence is growing in non-risk groups. Since there is no vaccine against HCV, it is important to determine the factors that control viral transmission in order to develop more efficient control measures. However, despite the health costs associated with HCV, the factors that determine the spread of virus at the epidemiological scale are often poorly understood. Here, we sequenced partial NS5b gene sequences sampled from blood samples collected from 591 patients in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. We show that different viral genotypes entered Sao Paulo at different times, grew at different rates, and are associated with different age groups and risk behaviors. In particular, subtype 1b is older and grew more slowly than subtypes 1a and 3a, and is associated with multiple age classes. In contrast, subtypes 1a and 3b are associated with younger people infected more recently, possibly with higher rates of sexual transmission. The transmission dynamics of HCV in Sao Paulo therefore vary by subtype and are determined by a combination of age, risk exposure and underlying social network. We conclude that social factors may play a key role in determining the rate and pattern of HCV spread, and should influence future intervention policies. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 00/04205-6 - Projeto VIRGEN - Viral Genetic Diversity Network (VGDN)
• Beneficiário: Paolo Marinho de Andrade Zanotto
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular