الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The main routes of transmission have changed since the early 1990s. Currently, drug use is the main source of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Several studies reported that HCV infection might cluster in families or households. Horizontal intrafamilial transmission of the virus has been demonstrated previously. Whether horizontal transmission makes any significant contribution to the global burden of HCV infection is still controversial and data about epidemiology and routes of transmission are uncertain.
The present study aimed at estimating of prevalence of HCV infection among household members of chronic HCV patients and detecting risk factors for intrafmilial transmission of HCV infection.
The study recruited 807 household members. They were subjected to careful history taking, thorough clinical examination and laboratory investigations including HCV detection using antibody and PCR tests.
Using HCV-Ab testing, there were 112 patients (13.9 %) diagnosed with HCV while using PCR, HCV diagnosis was established in 100 patients (12.4%).
Comparison between subjects with +ve and -ve HCV regarding the demographic data revealed that significantly higher frequency of patients in the age categories 30-45 and 45-60 in HCV-Ab +ve patients. Other factors related to HCV infection include being married, marriage duration > 20 years, rural