ABSTRACT
TT virus is a novel DNA virus widely distributed in the general population. We examined the prevalence of TTV infection in a population with acute non-A to E hepatitis and in comparison groups located in Northern Thailand. The prevalence of TTV in subjects with non-A-E hepatitis was 19% (21/112), 6% (4/72) in healthy volunteers, 17% (12/72) in those with hepatitis A or B, and 17% (8/48) in hospitalized patients with non-hepatitis illnesses. A significant association with TTV infection and non-A-E hepatitis was seen in all groups (OR 3.9, p = 0.02) and in children (OR 25.8, p = 0.001). Among subjects with non-A-E hepatitis, TTV was associated with higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels (significant for AST, p = 0.02). Our observations suggest that TTV in our study population may be associated with non-A-E hepatitis and that children in particular may be at risk of hepatocellular injury as a result of TTV infection.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Alanine Transaminase/blood , Aspartate Aminotransferases/blood , Base Sequence , Child , DNA Primers , DNA Virus Infections/complications , Female , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/complications , Humans , Liver/enzymology , Male , Prevalence , Thailand/epidemiology , Torque teno virus/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
Few prospective studies of mortality among children in developing countries have been published. Here we quantify and describe mortality and injury morbidity among a cohort of schoolchildren in rural Southeast Asia. Deaths among a cohort of 40,119 schoolchildren in Thailand were prospectively monitored over a two year period from January 1991. Additionally, data were collected with a questionnaire from a subset of 6,378 children asking them to recall all injuries over a one-year period. There were 40 deaths for an annual incidence of 50/100,000. Fifty percent of all deaths were due to injury; 25% to infectious diseases. Sixty percent of the injury deaths were due to motor vehicles and 35% to drowning. Sixty-six percent of the children reported one or more accidents. The leading categories of non-fatal injuries, in decreasing order, were: animal bite, puncture wound, burn, near-drowning, fall from a height. Boys experienced more injuries than girls for almost every type of injury. Injuries are replacing infectious diseases as the most important cause of deaths in developing countries. Additional public health initiatives to reduce childhood accidents may be warranted.