Hepatitis B core antibody in blood donor in sistan-balutuestan province of Iran.

Background: Safety of blood donor is an important issue for a recipient of blood so all blood donors are to screened for viral such as HBV, HCV, and HIV. Nevertheless, infections sometime occur by blood and its products. Objective: Because we haven't got any awareness about isolated Hbc Ab from a blood donor who presented of occults B hepatitis which can transmit infection to blood recipient, we decided to evaluate HbcAb in a blood donor in this province. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on a blood donor in Sistan-Balutuestan province in southeast of Iran in 2010. All individuals referred for blood donation recruited to this. After consent demographic data was recorded from each case, 5 ml blood sample was drawn and centrifuged to separate out the serum and then HbsAb, HbcAb was assayed. Data analyzed by SPSS 16 and frequency, chi- square test, and Fisher exact test was used and if P > 0.05 it was accented as significant association. Result: All individuals were men with age 55 10.5 years. The number of people who had free job was 149 (34.6%) and the number of people whose education level was diploma was 159 (36.9%). About 423 (98.1%) lived in urban areas. The mean weight of men was 76.6 13.7; about 259 (60.1%) men were married. A total of 22 (5.1%) had a positive smoking history. HBc Ab was positive in 87 (20.2%). Nearly all people had HBsAb titer more than 10 IU/L. Conclusion:This study showed that some of the blood donors had isolated HbcAb positive therefore we recommend HbcAb screening for blood donation.

Development of a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of hepatitis B surface antigen using novel monoclonal antibodies

Hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection is the 10th leading cause of death worldwide. The most important diagnostic and screening marker for HBV infection is Hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg], and the most widely used HBsAg screening test is Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay [ELISA]. In this study, an ELISA assay has been developed for detection of HBsAg using two novel monoclonal antibodies [mAb] as capture layer and a polyclonal biotinylated Ab as detector phase. We evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, detection limit, seroconversion time, positive and negative predictive values and reproducibility of our assay with standard panels and different serum samples. The results were compared with a well established commercial kit. Both assays showed similar detection limit values of 0.5 to 0.7 ng/ml and the same seroconversion periods of 42 and 65 days for [ad] and [ay] serotypes of HBsAg, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of the assay were 98.98% and 99.6%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values of our assay were also calculated as 99.49% and 99.2%, respectively. Analysis of reproducibility of the present assay demonstrated 3.96% and 5.85% intra-and inter-assay coefficient of variations, respectively, which were less than those obtained by the commercial kit. There was a highly significant correlation between our designed assay and the commercial ELISA kit [p < 0.0001, r = 0.957]. Altogether, our results indicate that the designed assay is comparable to the commercial kit in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and reproducibility and could be employed for diagnosis of HBV infection in blood samples

study of serological markers of hepatitis B and C viruses in Istanbul, Turkey

This study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV positivity in Istanbul, Turkey. Subjects and The frequencies of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV positivity were determined in 1,157 randomly selected patients attending the outpatient clinic of Istanbul University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, during the years 1998 and 2001. All patients underwent complete physical and various routine laboratory examinations. Of the 1,157 patients, the prevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV was 6.6, 28.1 and 2.4%, respectively. It appeared that having dental and surgical procedures formed the risk factors for HBV infection. HBsAg positivity in the health care workers was not different from that of the other professions, but anti-HBs was significantly higher in this group. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that HBV infection occurs more frequently than HCV in Istanbul, and this poses an important health problem in the community

Spectrum of viral hepatitis in thalassemic children receiving multiple blood transfusions.

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of infection with hepatitis viruses in children with thalassemia receiving multiple blood transfusions. METHODS: Sera from 50 children with thalassemia aged 5-15 years (30 boys), who had each received over 80 units of blood, were evaluated for the presence of markers for hepatitis A virus (HAV; IgG and IgM anti-HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV; HBsAg, and IgG and IgM anti-HBc), hepatitis C virus (HCV; IgG and IgM anti-HCV, and HCV RNA) and hepatitis E virus (HEV; IgG and IgM anti-HEV). IgM anti-hepatitis D virus (HDV) was looked for only in HBsAg or IgM anti-HBc positive sera. RESULTS: No child had evidence of recent HAV or HDV infection. IgG anti-HAV was positive in 12 children. One patient had acute HBV infection. Nine patients were HBsAg-positive. HCV infection was present in 15 cases; six of them were HCV RNA positive, and three had superinfection with hepatitis B. Recent HEV infection was present in 5 cases. CONCLUSION: Thalassemic patients receiving multiple blood transfusions often acquire hepatitis B (20%) and C (30%) infections. Recent hepatitis E infection was documented in 10% in this one-point study.

Prevalence of hepatitis B carrier and HIV in healthy blood donors at Ayub Teaching Hospital

A seroepidemiologic study for hepatitis B and Human immunodeficiency viruses was conducted at the blood bank of Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad. Volunteer blood donors from during the period 01-6-99 to 31-8-99 were selected. For Hepatitis B virus, surface antigen was used and for Human Immunodeficiency virus Human Antibodies were used as viral detection. Out of these 960 donors 18 [1.55%] were hepatitis B surface antigen positive and the remaining were negative. The 18 [1.55%]positive donors were males only

Prevalence of hepatitis-B carriers among children in Bahawalpur urban slums

To find out the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B carriers among children in Bahawalpur urban slums. An observational descriptive cross-sectional study of 550 children between 6 months to 15 years age in Paediatric Unit-ll [DTU] of B.V. Hospital over a period of four months [Mid Sept. 1 999 to Mid Jan. 2000] Bahawalpur urban slums and Paediatric Unit-ll [DTU] of B.V. Hospital Bahawalpur. Five hundred fifty children admitted to Paediatric Unit-ll [DTU] and those in Bahowalpur urban slums. Main outcome measures: Seroprevalence of Hepatitis "B" carriers. Mean age of children in our study was 7.5 years. Males were 54%. The number of children detected as carriers of Hepatitis-B was 1 6 [2.9%]. None of the carriers of HB infection, had ever received vaccination against HB infection. Out of 16 carriers 7 cases had successfully completed their EPI schedule, 4 received incomplete vaccination while 5 carriers did not receive any EPI schedule vaccination. Just one seropositive case gave past history of jaundice in his early neonatal period for which he got exchange transfusion. None of the carriers got tattooing nor shared piercing of nose or ears by a common [contaminated] needle nor any history of bath in a swimming pool. There were no signs suggestive of chronic liver disease in any carrier. Overall seroprevalence of Hepatitis-B carriers in Bahawalpur is 2.9%. There is a large cohort of seronegative children. They need to be protected against HBV infection through active immunization

Sero-epidemiologic survey of hepatitis B markers in national Iranian oil company [NIOC] health workers in Tehran prior to mass vaccination

Objective-To determine the prevalence of sero-epidemiologic markers of Hepatitis B virus [HBV] in NIOC health organization personnel in Tehran, and to study the risk of exposure of medical staff [who are more exposed to patients and/or blood products.]. Method-A sero-prevalence study was carried out on 600 subjects with no past history of vaccination against hepatitis B. Of these, 377 were more prone to exposure [high-risk group], and were compared to the rest of the subjects [comparison group] and the normal population. Results-A sample of 447 subjects were tested for all markers [HBsAg, HBsAb, and HBcAb], of which 101 [23%] were positive for at least one of the markers [CI95%: 19%-27%]. Prevalence of HBsAg, HBsAb, and HBcAb were found to be 1.83% [CI95%: 0.97%-3.36%], 16.11% [CI95%: 13.3%-19.4%], and 17.86% [CI95%: 14.5%-21.8%] respectively. While no significant correlation was found with sex and years of service, significant correlation with age was found for seroprevalence of HBsAb [P<0.01] and HBcAb [P<0.05]. No significant sero-prevalence of any marker was found in the high risk group compared to the comparison group in this study and population-based survey results. Significantly increased risk of seropositivity for HBsAg was found among laboratory personnel of laboratory as compared to the comparison group [RR: 8.8, P<0.05, CI95%: 1.4-54.6]. Discussion-No significant increased risk of exposure based on serologic studies in health care personnel in communities where HBV is endemic, may be attributed to a balanced increased risk of occupational exposure. The reason might be that safe life styles and appropriate job behavior due to higher level of education and socioeconomic factors compared to general population in such communities could result in their equal risk of infection. Further studies are warranted to eliminate the role of socioeconomic status as a possible confounding factor in risk assessment studies for HBV exposure in health care workers

HBsAg carrier with simultaneous amebic liver abscess and acute hepatitis E.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection and amebiasis are waterborne diseases that are endemic in India. However, their co-occurrence has never been described. We report a patient who presented with fever, jaundice and tender hepatomegaly and on investigation was found to have coexisting acute hepatitis E and amebic liver abscess. Incidentally, he was also an HBsAg carrier.

Prevalence of hepatitis G and associated HBs Ag HCV -Ab viral markers among professional blood donors/drug addicts in Pakistan

Hepatitis B and C viral infections have been prevalent with endemicity throughout the world including Pakistan. In Pakistan no information is yet available about the prevalence of hepatitis G virus in general population and high risk groups. On a small scale some work was done [in collaboration with Nagoya University, Japan], with reference to the prevalence of hepatitis B and C viral infection in different risk groups. The present study pertains to 474 individuals [representing professional blood donors and drug addicts] in order to find out the prevalence of HGV status in Pakistan. Seven [1.5 percent] individuals were screened as hepatitis G virus RNA positive by PCR technique. Interestingly, two of these individuals were found to have co-infection with hepatitis C virus based on HCV-Ab, another two of them were found to have mixed infection with hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, while rest of the three were exclusively infected with HGV. This suggests for a thorough screening [including HGV] of all blood donors even if their routine hepatitis profile is negative

Ausência do HBV-DNA por PCR em soros de doadores de sangue com HBsAg negativo e anti-HBc positivo em regiäo de alta prevalência de hepatite B / Absence of HBV-DNA by PCR in blood donor sera with negative HBsAg and positive anti-HBc from a population with high prevalence of Hepatitis B

Foram estudados soros de 50 doadores voluntários de sangue, com antígeno de superfície da hepatite B (HBsAg) negativo, anticorpo do antígeno core da hepatite B (anti-HBc) positivo e níveis normais de alanina aminotransferase (ALT), provenientes de uma populaçäo de alta prevalência de hepatite B.As estatísticasdo HEMEPAR (Instituto de Saúde do Paraná - Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia do Paraná), regional de Cascavel mostram uma prevalência de anti-HBc positivo em 1995 e 1996 de 33,8 porcento e 31,1 porcento na regiäo Oeste do Paraná. Um método sensível, nested-PCR foi usado para pesquisar o DNA viral da hepatite B (HBV-DNA). O limite mínimo de detecçäo foi de 300 genomas por mL. Em todos os 50 soros anti-HBc positivo e HBsAg negativo analisados pela técnica de Reaçäo em Cadeia pela Polimerase näo foi encontrado DNA viral da hepatite B (HBV-DNA). Estes achados indicam que o descarte de todas as unidades de sangue ou hemoderivados com os marcadores, anti-HBc positivo e HBsAg negativo, pode ser melhor avaliado quando se realiza a pesquisa do HBV-DNA pela técnica de PCR

Importance of confirmatory testing in donated blood

During the period from January 1995 to January 1996 blood units from 8747 blood donors were screened for blood-borne viruses at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. These tests included HBsAg, antibodies to hepatitis C virus [anti-HCV], antibodies to human immunodeficiency viruses [anti-HIV-l/2]. During the same period 1500 blood units were screened for antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I [anti-HTLV-l]. Among the 8747 blood donors, 2.7% were found to be HBsAg-positive on initial screening but 2.2% were confirmed as HBsAg-positive. Regarding HCV, 2.8% were anti-HCV-positive on initial screening but the percentage dropped down to 1.6% on confirmation and only 12[0.14%] were considered indeterminant by line immunoassay. None of the donors was confirmed anti-HIV-positive but five were diagnosed as indeterminant by western blot. Only four were anti-HTLV-I -positive on initial screening but were diagnosed as indeterminant by western blot, In total, 492 [5.6%] of the blood units tested were reactive for any one of the four viruses on screening but only 327 [3.7%] were confirmed positive. All 492 blood units were not recommended for transfusion. This raises the question of the usefulness of confirmatory testing in blood donation. We believe the confirmation is only important for counseling the donor and a non-reactive result on confirmation should not interfere with the decision of not recommending the blood for transfusion

Prevalence of HBs Ag in adults needing endoscopy and its likely aetiological factors

A total of 1200 patients needing endoscopy for upper and lower Gastrointestinal symptoms were screened for HBsAg at the DHQ Teaching Hospital of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, using the Hepatitis-B Quick Test of the 1200 patients 553 were females and 647 males. Amongst these 40[3.33%] were HBsAg positive, of which 16 were male and 24 female. 33[82%] patients gave a history of parenteral injection; 24 [60%] of I/V infusion and 5[12.2%] had no history of injections/infusion or transfusion. The above figures suggest that HBsAg is not as common in Hazara as compared to studies done in bigger towns of Pakistan secondly parenteral therapy seems to be the most important mode of transmission. In order to further reduce the incidence we need to educate the people the paramedical staff and laboratories dealing blood transfusions

Hepatopatia como causa de óbito pós-transplante renal / Liver disease as a cause of renal post-transplantation death

O objetivo do presente estudo é avaliar os casos de óbito por hepatopatia (cirrose, hepatoma e hepatite aguda) no pós-transplante renal de 1511 pacientes submetidos a 1670 tx renais, entre janeiro de 1965 e dezembro de 1990, com um tempo mínimo de seguimento de quatro anos. O número total de óbitos no período de observaçäo foi de 593 (39,17 por cento), sendo 41 casos (6,9 por cento) em consequência de hepatopatia: 28 casos por cirrose, 7 por hepatoma e 6 por hepatite aguda. Quanto aos dados demográficos, 38 pacientes (92,7 por cento) eram do sexo masculino, enquanto que na populaçäo geral de receptores de tx, 60 por cento dos pacientes sao deste sexo. O tempo médio do óbito pós-transplante nos casos de cirrose e hepatoma foi 115,05 + 60,6 meses, com uma mediana de 103 meses (15-255), ocorrendo 37,1 por cento deles após o 10§ ano e somente 17 por cento nos primeiros 5 anos pós-tx. Todos os óbitos por hepatite aguda ocorreram nos primeiros 5 anos pós-tx. Nos casos de cirrose verificou-se que 19 (67,8 por cento) pacientes eram portadores do HBsAg e 8 (28,6 por cento) apresentavam sorologia anti-HVC positiva. Nos 7 óbitos ocorridos por hepatoma 6 pacientes eram portadores do HBsAg.

Excreción de porfirinas e infección crónica por virus C de la hepatitis / Porphyrin excretion and chronic infection by hepatitis C virus

Eighteen patients with cirrhosis Child-Pough A, eight infected with hepatitis C virus, were studied. Urinary excretion of Ù aminolevulinic acid, porphobilinogen, coproporphyrins, uroporphyrins and fecal excretion of coproporphyrins and protoporphyrins were measured. Red blood cell protoporphyrin was also measured. There were no differences in the measured parameters between patients with or without hepatitis C virus infection. No patient had uroporphyrin excretion values over the normal range. Some patients had slight elevations in some parameters, but always below the values observed in porphyrias. In these group of patients, hepatitis C virus infection of its associated liver diasease do not cause detectable alterations in porphyrin metabolism

A cytological study of hepatitis B surface antigen localization using orcein staining in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Twenty patients of suspected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were studied to test the hypothesis that orcein staining of cytological specimens from HCC can detect hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). HBsAg status, cytological examination of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) material for diagnosis by Papanicolaou and modified orcein staining for HBsAg were carried out. Observer variability and agreement on orcein positivity was assessed and analyzed using kappa statistics. HCC was diagnosed in 13 patients and 8 were HBsAg positive; 8 had orcein positivity as judged by observer 2 and 7 by observer 1. A significant kappa value of 0.837 suggested a high degree of observer agreement in the interpretation of orcein positivity. This technique is safe and quick and can supplement the histopathological diagnosis of hepatitis B virus associated HCC.