Prevalence of infection with hepatitis C virus in Venezuela, as assessed with an immuno-assay based on synthetic peptides.
Ann Trop Med Parasitol
; 95(2): 187-95, 2001 Mar.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11299125
ABSTRACT
Information on infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in South America is scarce. The seroprevalences of antibodies to HCV among urban, rural and Amerindian populations from Venezuela, and the genotypes of the HCV isolates recovered, were therefore determined. A total of 2592 sera were tested with an immuno-assay which was developed in-house and based on synthetic peptides. Each reactive sample was then re-tested, using other enzyme immuno-assays and a reverse-transcription, nested PCR, and any sample confirmed positive (in any test) was considered HCV-positive. Genotypes were determined by analysis of RFLP. Overall, 39 (1.5%) of the samples were found HCV positive. The results of the immuno-assays indicated that the seroprevalence of HCV markers among the Amerindians investigated (23/1082, or 2.1%) was significantly higher than that among the other subjects (16/1510, or 1.1%; P = 0.02). No such difference was observed in the numbers of subjects confirmed positive by PCR, however (6/1082 v. 10/1510), and some of the anti-HCV reactivity observed among Amerindians may have been the result of cross-reactivity with parasitic infections. The relative low prevalence of active HCV infection (16/2582, or 0.6%) and the HCV genotypes observed (mainly genotype 1) are in agreement with the results of previous studies indicating that HCV is not autochthonous to South America. However, it is clear that the virus may now be found even in isolated Amerindian populations. The in-house, synthetic-peptide-based immuno-assay seems to be a valuable tool for epidemiological studies.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Kit de Reagentes para Diagnóstico
/
Programas de Rastreamento
/
Hepatite C Crônica
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
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Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Pregnancy
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Venezuela
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2001
Tipo de documento:
Article