Prevalence and virological features of occult hepatitis B virus infection in female sex workers who work uncontrolled in Turkey.
Liver Int
; 29(2): 227-30, 2009 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18662283
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
There is little information about the prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection (OHBVI). We have investigated the prevalence and virological features of OHBVI among female sex workers (FSWs) in Istanbul.METHODS:
Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was tested in FSWs who work uncontrolled and were admitted to Venereal Diseases Hospital. HBV DNA and anti-HBs were investigated in all the HBsAg-negative cases. Hepatitis B envelope (HBe) antigen, anti-HBe, anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) antigen, HBV genotype, S gene and precore (PC)/basic core promoter (BCP) mutations were determined in HBV DNA-positive sera.RESULTS:
Two hundred and eighty-six volunteers were enrolled and 32.5% (n=93) of them had anti-HBs positivity. HBV DNA (range 30-209 copy/ml) was positive in 11 anti-HBs-negative and two anti-HBs-positive cases. The prevalence of OHBVI was 4.5% (13/286). Anti-HBc was positive in 77% (10/13) of those with OHBVI and anti-HBe positivity was 53.8% (7/13). Only genotype D was present in all occult HBV-infected cases. One PC (G1896A) and one BCP (T1762/A1764) mutation was found, but S gene mutation was not detected in any of the samples.CONCLUSION:
In this population, OHBVI may have a negligible role in the horizontal transmission because of a very low viral load, and PC and core promoter mutations are very rare.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Trabalho Sexual
/
Hepatite B
Tipo de estudo:
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
País como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2009
Tipo de documento:
Article