ABSTRACT
Semi-nested polymerase chain reaction technique was used to detect Torquetenovirus (TTV) DNA in 234 healthy blood donors in northeast Thailand. The incidence of TTV was 28% in 101 healthy blood donors negative for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibody, 25% in 71 HBsAg carriers and 29% among 62 with anti-HCV antibody. No association of TTV infection was found with gender, age, and HBV or HCV infection.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Blood Donors/statistics & numerical data , DNA Virus Infections/diagnosis , DNA, Viral/blood , Female , Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/blood , Hepatitis C Antibodies/blood , Humans , Incidence , Male , Middle Aged , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Thailand/epidemiology , Torque teno virus/geneticsABSTRACT
Hepatitis G viral (HGV) infection among northeastern Thai blood donors was determined by the nested RT-PCR technique. HGV RNA was amplified by the degenerated helicase primers for a product of the expected size of 83 base pairs were used in this study. Serum samples from 322 of three different categories of northeastern Thai blood donors were included in this study. There were 104 HBsAg and Anti-HCV seronegative blood donors (control group), 100 samples of HBs Ag seropositive blood donors (HBV infected group) and 118 serum samples from anti-HCV seropositive blood donors (HCV infected group). The results demonstrated that HGV RNA was not detected in the control group but was found in 10 individuals (10%) in the HBV infected group and 13 (11%) in the anti-HCV positive blood donors. The prevalences of HGV in both seropositive groups were significantly different from the control group (p = 0.001). HGV co-infection is highly prevalent among northeastern Thai blood donors who are infected with HBV or HCV. The results also reveal that blood donors seronegative for HCV and HBV are a low risk group for HGV infection.