Higher clearance of HCV infection in females compared to males

Iman Bakr ¹, Claire Rekacewicz ², Mostafa El Hosseiny ¹, Soheir Ismail ¹, Mai El Daly ³, Sharif El-Kafrawy ³, Gamal Esmat ⁴, Mohamed Abdel-Hamid ⁵, Mostafa Mohamed ¹ and Arnaud Fontanet ^2*

¹ Ain Shams University, Egypt
² Institut Pasteur, France
³ National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Egypt
⁴ Cairo University, Egypt
⁵ Minia University, Egypt

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fontanet{at}pasteur.fr.

Accepted 8 January 2006

Abstract

According to studies, 14% to 46% of subjects clear Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) from the blood after infection. Controversial results exist about gender differences in HCV clearance rate. We took the opportunity of a large population-based study on HCV infection in Egypt to compare HCV clearance in males and females. Definitions used in the paper were: cleared HCV infection (positive HCV antibody and negative HCV RNA test results); and chronic HCV infection (positive HCV antibody and positive HCV RNA test results). The study sample included 4720 village residents aged 18 to 65 years recruited through home-based visits (n=2425) or voluntary screening (n=2295). Overall HCV antibody prevalence was 910/4720 = 19.3% (95% confidence interval = 18.2% - 20.4%). Of those with HCV antibodies (n=910), 61.5% had chronic HCV infection. Compared to males, females were more likely to have cleared the virus (44.6% versus 33.7%, respectively, P = 0.001). Control for age, schistosomiasis history, iatrogenic exposures, and sexual exposure to HCV did not alter the positive association between female gender and viral clearance.

Keywords: Egypt, epidemiology, hepatitis C, natural history

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