ABSTRACT
Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a parenterally transmitted virus, frequently associated with hepatitis C virus infection. Hepatitis G virus RNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in the serum of 40 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Nine (22.5%) patients had evidence of hepatitis G virus viraemia. No significant epidemiological or virological differences could be demonstrated between subjects infected with both hepatitis G virus and hepatitis C virus and subjects infected with hepatitis C virus alone. Aminotransferase values were comparable between the two groups, whereas higher levels of cholestatic enzymes (P< 0.001) were reported in the hepatitis G virus/hepatitis C virus-positive patients. A liver biopsy was performed on all 40 patients no later than 6 months before recruitment. The mean histological activity index did not differ between hepatitis G virus-positive and hepatitis G virus-negative patients, whereas specific histological features such as macrovesicular steatosis, portal granulomas, and bile duct damage were more commonly observed among the coinfected patients. The results indicate that coinfection with hepatitis G virus probably does not have a significant effect on hepatitis C virus-induced hepatic damage.
Subject(s)
Flaviviridae , Hepatitis C, Chronic/complications , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/complications , Adult , Disease Progression , Female , Flaviviridae/genetics , Hepatitis C/genetics , Hepatitis C/immunology , Hepatitis C, Chronic/physiopathology , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/physiopathology , Humans , Male , RNA, Viral/blood , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , ViremiaABSTRACT
The prevalence of hepatitis G in a multitransfused population was studied. HGV did not appear to be a major contributor to liver pathology in this group and the prevalence was surprisingly low.
Subject(s)
Flaviviridae/isolation & purification , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/complications , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/epidemiology , RNA, Viral/blood , Transfusion Reaction , beta-Thalassemia/complications , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Flaviviridae/genetics , Hepatitis, Viral, Human/transmission , Humans , Male , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Prevalence , RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase , Sicily/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This report is based on a seven-year retrospective analysis of computerized data available from the Chicago Board of Health's Cancer Control Section and its Cytology Laboratory. All patients included were medically indigent. The cytologic specimens were obtained by the VCE technique; all Papanicolaou smears were classified with both the numerical and descriptive systems for abnormal cytology. The study cohort was composed of 33,641 teen-age patients through age 19; 58 (1.7/1,000) had abnormal cytology (Class III, IV, or V). In Chicago, from 1962 through 1969, approximately 25 per cent of the total patient load were teen-agers under the age of 19 with an extremely low yield of suspect cytology: Class III = 1.6 per month; Class IV = 0.1 per month; Class V = 0.0 per month. The Chicago Board of Health has reduced the number of Papanicolaou smears taken on young women under the age of 19; however, this conceptual approach does not exclude women under age 19 who epidemiologically and/or clinically warrant the implementation of a Papanicolaou smear with the use of Friedell's "biologic age of the cervix" formula.
