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Query: UMLS:C0019158 (hepatitis)
 30,205 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Hepatitis virus infections are common among injecting drug users. Syringes containing hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR); syringes containing antibodies to HBV core antigen and HCV were identified by EIA. Syringe use was simulated to determine the sensitivity of these assays. The mean limits for PCR were 0.082 microliter of blood for HBV and 0.185 microliter for HCV; the mean limits for EIA were 0.185 microliter for HBV and 0.023 microliter for HCV. HBV PCR testing of 681 syringes returned to the needle exchange program in New Haven, Connecticut, revealed a decline from 7.8% HBV-positive at the program's outset to 2.6%. HCV antibodies were found in 12.1% of 207 syringes tested. Syringe testing can help estimate the prevalence and incidence of hepatitis virus infections when standard seroepidemiologic analyses cannot be applied.
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PMID:Hepatitis in used syringes: the limits of sensitivity of techniques to detect hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, and antibodies to HBV core and HCV antigens. 860 83

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is recognized as the major cause of non-A, non-B hepatitis. Its prevalence in different patient populations and blood donors has been reported worldwide but not yet from Lebanon. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of HCV antibodies in 536 random Lebanese blood donors using three enzyme immunoassay kits: ETI-AB-HCVK (Sorin, Biomedica, Italy), UBI HCV EIA (Organon Teknika, Netherlands) and ORTHO HCV 2.0 ELISA (Ortho Diagnostic Systems, USA). The latter was also used as an arbitrator test. Though ETI-AB-HCVK and UBI HCV EIA kits gave higher initial positive results (5.8% and 3.7%, respectively) than ORTHO HCV 2.0 ELISA (1.1%), the over all prevalence of HCV antibody in these blood donors was 0.7%. A brief review of the HCV virus, its epidemiology, clinical features and diagnostic aspects is also presented. A similar testing approach was carried out on additional 3643 blood donors. Confirmatory testing based on CHIRON*RIBA*HCV 2.0 strip immunoblot assay (Ortho) revealed that the HCV antibody seroprevalence in random Lebanese blood donors is 0.11% and not 0.7% as found by ELISAs alone.
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PMID:Hepatitis C virus : prevalence in Lebanese blood donors and brief overview of the disease. 867 56

In this paper an attempt has been made at quantitative evaluation of reactivity of various types anti-HCV using proposed BLOT-index. We based our research on 20 patients diagnosed with hepatitis-C (clinical, biochemical, serological and enzymatical criteria--repeatedly positive results of second generation screening tests EIA ABBOTT HCV and UBI HCV Monoelisa Organon Teknika) who were anti-HCV determined at the beginning the acute phase and after 3 and 6 months. Multiantigen tests were used veryfying LIATEK-HCV 2 and LIATEK-HCV 3 Organon Teknika. Value of BLOT-index was algebraic sum of "pluses" for particular anti-HCV. Three models of dynamics of BLOT-index were observed: increase, plateau and decrease. Statistically significant differences between values of BLOT-index were shown at the beginning of the acute phase of hepatitis-C and after 6 months. There were no differences observed between convalescents and patients who developed chronic hepatitis-C (test t-Student's and f-Fisher's). Reactivity of anti-HCV, evaluated using BLOT-index, shown increasing trend, which is a dominant pattern, however quantitative and qualitative changes do not occur more frequently than every 6 months. The LIATEK-HCV 3 gives fewer undetermined reactions and detects anti-HCV earlier than a former generation of this test.
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PMID:[Humoral response in hepatitis C infections: types of anti-HCV and reactivity evaluated using BLOT-index]. 871 Nov 45

It was recognized that the mortality rate from chronic liver diseases in town T was greater than 2 times the average for other areas of Miyazaki Prefecture. A seroepidemiological survey of the hepatitis viral markers, such as, HBs antigen (RPHA method) and CP antibody (EIA method) an HCV core antibody, was conducted among 7,178 residents both in town T and in its neighboring town Y. There was no difference in the rates of HBs antigen positives between town T (1.1%) and town Y (0.9%). However, the rates of CP antibody positives were 23.7% and 2.7% in town T and town Y, respectively. The former was significantly higher than the latter (p < 0.001, Chisquare test). CP antibody positives are more likely to have abnormal liver function than negatives. These results clearly suggest that the rate of the residents with abnormal levels of liver function in town T was significantly higher than in town Y. Of 33 people who had a history of acute hepatitis in 1972, 30 tested positive for CP antibody. An epidemic of acute hepatitis in 1972 is speculated to have been caused by HCV infection, which in turn may account for the higher incidence of liver disease mortality in town T.
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PMID:[High prevalence of hcv infection in a town where high mortality from liver disease is observed]. 885 Nov 84

The agent of the majority of parenterally transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis is the hepatitis C virus (HCV). In this study, we estimate the HCV seropositivity in 7,771 blood donors and 317 patients on hemodialysis in 5 different centres, of which 4 are situated in Beirut. The used screening test consists of a second generation EIA technique. The study shows that 0.41% of blood donors are HCV seropositive. The mean percentage of seropositive patients is about 27% but the comparison of centres among them showed a high variability (10, 19, 21, 33 et 39%). The blood transfusion, the number of years on hemodialysis and the screening of blood donors seem to be the main risk factors. Reducing the number of transfusions to hemodialysed patients and screening antibodies anti-HCV in blood donations are primordial.
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PMID:[Hepatitis C virus in hemodialysis patients and blood donors in Lebanon]. 896 18

The risk of transmitting viral infections by transfusion today is quite remote. The many, sensitive, diagnostic tests in place, when applied to the blood of volunteer, unpaid (unremunerated), unpressured donors who are also carefully evaluated at the time of donation, make blood and blood component transfusions very safe. A number of sensitive laboratory tests are performed on each unit of donated blood and plasma to reduce the risk of transmission of hepatitis viruses and retroviruses from asymptomatic donors to transfusion recipients. With the tests, we hope to catch otherwise undetectable individuals who may be carrying these viruses yet appear healthy and deny risk factors for their carriage. However, the laboratory tests in use in blood banks were designed to aid in the diagnosis of patients with viral diseases. Therefore, a reactive test, even if reproducible, on a sample from a healthy blood donor is more apt to be falsely than truly positive. An ideal microbiologic test is one which is one hundred percent sensitive, i.e., it will identify every person with an infectious disease (including asymptomatic carriers). In addition, a perfect test would have one hundred percent specificity, i.e., it would not be reactive in anyone without the infectious agent. The decision point or "cutoff" for an ideal test would be above the (negative) results for all normal and uninfected samples, but below that for all (positive) infectious ones. In reality, there is an overlap between some of the results on normals and those on diseased individuals, including persons who are carrying an infectious agent. When we try to obtain maximal sensitivity, e.g., to detect all asymptomatic carriers of a virus, the assay cutoff is set very low for tests applied to blood donors; but this approach will compromise the specificity of a test. The net effect is that many normal people donating blood are said to have "abnormal" test results which, among other things, necessitates the loss of their blood and plasma. In addition, we must follow up the reactive results by enzyme linked immunoassays (EIA or ELISA) or radioimmunoassays (RIA) used to screen or preliminarily test blood from donors with supplemental or confirmatory tests to verify whether the initial test is a true positive or a false positive one. Trying to explain the significance of a false positive test for AIDS or hepatitis to a healthy donor often causes fear, concern and/or anger. Thus, the use of very sensitive tests on blood donors will increase the safety of transfusion for recipients but result in loss of some donors and discard of many blood components unnecessarily. Despite the problems in applying sensitive tests to asymptomatic individuals who are not patients, the assays in place in blood banks have, nonetheless, resulted in remarkably small risks of virus transmission by transfusions. Currently, the risk of HCV infection following a transfusion is about 1 in 3,300 per unit transfused. This is an enormous improvement compared to the risks of what was called non-A, non-B hepatitis in the 1970s and 1980s before the use of the test for antibodies to HCV. For HTLV-1 (and, potentially, HTLV-II) the risk of transfusion transmission is about 1 in 50,000 per unit of screened blood. Using blood which is anti-HIV-1/2 non-reactive, the risk is about 1 in 225,000 units of transmitting HIV. The risk of transfusion associated AIDS is thus quite remote in 1993. For hepatitis B virus, only about 1 in 200,000 units of blood transmit this virus now. In sum, only about 3 units of blood per 10,000 of those collected from acceptable, volunteer donors are currently likely to transmit a serious or fatal transfusion-transmitted viral infection. In contrast, in America, about 6 out of every 1,000 patients hospitalized will die from an accidental or preventable cause other than the underlying disease for which he/she was hospitalized. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
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PMID:Overview: diagnostic tests for viral infections transmitted by blood. 923 5

While hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major etiological agent of post-transfusion and community acquired non-A, non-B hepatitis, little is known about the epidemiology of HCV in the UK. A cost-effective method using dried blood spots to determine anti-HCV IgG in subjects which could be used in large-scale epidemiological studies is described. Samples were screened using an in-house IgG ELISA incorporating the recombinant proteins c22-3, c200, and NS5, while specific antibody to HCV was confirmed using a modified immunoblot RIBA 3.0. A panel of well evaluated anti-HCV positive and negative samples from the UK and South Africa were used to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the 2 tests. All anti-HCV positive samples were detected by the in-house screening EIA. Test/negative optical density ratios showed that more than 95% of reactive samples produced values greater than 5.0. Antibodies to HCV could be detected in a wide range of samples derived from asymptomatic and symptomatic patients and of different genotypes, with similar sensitivity. The presence of anti-HCV could be confirmed by RIBA 3.0 in samples with low reactivity, but not in anti-HCV negative samples. The immunoblot assay increased specificity by screening out false reactive EIA samples.
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PMID:A method for the detection and confirmation of antibodies to hepatitis C virus in dried blood spots. 938 10

Immunoassays were developed to determine the seroprevalence of antibody against human GB virus C (GBV-C). The antigenic target in each assay was a 44.6-kDa glycosylated protein representing the first 315 amino acids encoded by the GBV-C E2 gene. Sera or plasma were assayed for E2 antibody using an anti-human EIA format in which antigen-coated polystyrene beads were reacted with sample, and bound antibody was detected by addition of enzyme labelled goat anti-human IgG. The presence of anti-E2 antibody was confirmed using a sandwich EIA format in which samples were reacted with antigen coated polystyrene beads, followed by addition of solution phase biotinylated antigen. Detection of antibody captured biotinylated E2 was accomplished by addition of enzyme-conjugated anti-biotin antibody. Antibody against the E2 antigen was detected in 7.4 and 7.8% of 500 sera and 500 plasma, respectively, from US volunteers donating to a Wisconsin blood center, and in approximately 10.7% of hepatitis and retrovirus marker-negative volunteer blood donors from a Missouri blood center. The rate in 1018 sera from US commercial donors at multiple US blood centers was 36.7%. These results indicated a relatively high prevalence of GBV-C exposure in US volunteer donors, and particularly in commercial donors. The clinical implication of the high exposure rate is unclear. These immunoassays are being combined with nucleic acid detection to assess prevalence of GBV-C world wide and to determine if GBV-C plays a role as an etiologic agent.
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PMID:Immunoassays to study prevalence of antibody against GB virus C in blood donors. 939 39

Hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia (HAAA) is an uncommon disorder that usually is not due to hepatitis A or B virus infection. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) seropositivity is infrequently observed in aplastic anemia (AA) patients who have not been extensively transfused. However, HCV seropositivity may not be detected until several weeks or months after viral infection and AA patients may exhibit defective humoral immunity. Therefore, we evaluated sera from AA patients for the presence of HCV viremia using a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based assay and several serologic assays for HCV antibodies. Serum samples from 90 AA patients who presented to the UCLA Medical Center between March 1984 and February 1990 were analyzed. Overall, 17 patients were found to have HCV viremia by RT-PCR assay, of whom 14 had a positive second-generation HCV enzyme immunoassay (EIA-2) and only 6 were EIA-1 reactive. The frequency of HCV viremia increased with the duration of time between diagnosis and sample procurement, and the number of blood products transfused prior to sampling (P = 0.026). No patient who received fewer than 20 U of blood products or who was sampled less than 20 days after diagnosis had a positive HCV RT-PCR result. Of four patients with hepatitis-associated AA (HAAA), one who was sampled 23 days after diagnosis had hepatitis C viremia and a reactive EIA-2 assay. Therefore, the high frequency of HCV viremia in this patient population is most likely due to transfusion with contaminated blood products prior to the introduction of routine blood donor screening for HCV.
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PMID:Hepatitis C virus infection in acquired aplastic anemia. 962 79

Although the risk of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis has been recently reduced, transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia patients may still develop liver disease due to viral infection or iron overload. We assessed the frequency and causes of liver dysfunction in a cohort of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) negative thalassemics. Of 1,481 thalassemics enrolled in 31 centers, 219 (14.8%) tested anti-HCV- by second-generation assays; 181 completed a 3-year follow-up program consisting of alanine-aminotransferase (ALT) measurement at each transfusion and anti-HCV determination by third-generation enzyme-immunoassay (EIA-3) at the end of study. Serum ferritin levels were determined at baseline and at the end of follow-up. Ten patients were anti-HCV+ by EIA-3 at the end of follow-up. Of them, seven were already positive in 1992 to 1993 when the initial sera were retested by EIA-3, one tested indeterminate by confirmatory assay, and two had true seroconversion (incidence, 4. 27/1,000 person years; risk of infection, 1/7,100 blood units, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1 in 2,000-1 in 71,000 units). At baseline, 67 of 174 thalassemics had abnormal ALT. Of those with normal ALT, seven subsequently developed at least one episode of moderate ALT increase (incidence, 24.6/1,000 person-years). All of the 20 patients with ferritin values >/=3,000 ng/mL had clinically relevant ALT abnormalities, as compared with 53 of 151 with <3,000 ng/mL (P < .005). Hepatic dysfunction is still frequent in thalassemics. Although it is mainly attributable to siderosis and primary HCV infection, the role of undiscovered transmissible agents cannot be excluded.
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PMID:A multicenter prospective study on the risk of acquiring liver disease in anti-hepatitis C virus negative patients affected from homozygous beta-thalassemia. 978 88


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