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Detection of occult hepatitis C virus among healthy spouses of patients with HCV infection

The criterion standard for the diagnosis of occult hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is detection of HCV‐RNA in liver cells. However, because of the invasive nature of liver biopsy, other methods have been studied. The present study aimed to identify subjects with occult HCV‐4 infection among healthy sexual partners of patients with chronic HCV‐4 infection by detecting HCV‐RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fifty healthy Egyptian spouses of patients with chronic HCV‐4 infection were included in this study. Real‐time PCR was used to detect HCV‐RNA in PBMCs in all the study subjects. The prevalence of occult HCV‐4 infection was 4%, and a statistically significant higher prevalence was found among patients with a history of sexually transmitted infection. The results of the present study indicate the importance of intra‐spousal transmission of HCV‐4 infection, especially in subjects with a history of sexually transmitted infection. J. Med. Virol. 87:424–427, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.