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HETEROSEXUAL TRANSMISSION OF NON-A, NON-B HEPATITIS.

Heterosexual activity is recognized as an increasingly important route of hepatitis B transmission. This study from the Centers for Disease Control indicates that heterosexual transmission may also be a factor in the spread of non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis. Researchers interviewed 218 patients with hepatitis B, 140 with NANB hepatitis, and control subjects matched for age, sex, race, area code, and telephone exchange, to identify possible risk factors.

About half the hepatitis patients reported no identifiable source of infection. However, patients with both types of hepatitis were more likely than controls to have multiple heterosexual partners. The authors estimate that sex with many partners accounted for an additional 14 percent of the hepatitis B cases. In patients with NANB hepatitis, multiple heterosexual partners or household or sexual contact with a person who previously had hepatitis accounted for an additional 11 percent of infections.

In the U.S., NANB hepatitis has been associated chiefly with parenteral exposures. This study is the first to demonstrate a role for heterosexual transmission in the spread of this disease. (See also JW accession number 890901001.)

— THL

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine September 5, 1989

Citation(s):

Alter MJ et al. Importance of heterosexual activity in the transmission of hepatitis B and non-A, non-B hepatitis. JAMA 1989 Sep 1 262 1201-1205.

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