title: Enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis: recovery of virus-like particles from an epidemic in south Delhi and transmission studies in rhesus monkeys.
abstract: An epidemic of viral hepatitis, serologically characterized as due to non-A, non-B hepatitis, occurred in a village of South Delhi, India, in December, 1986, through January, 1987. Water contaminated with fecal matter was the apparent source of infection. Disease-associated virus-like particles were detected by immune electron microscopy in the feces of three patients within 5 days of illness. The virus-like particles were agglutinated by autologous acute-phase serum but not by convalescent serum. Rhesus monkeys inoculated with particle-containing fecal suspensions developed biochemical and morphologic features of acute, self-limited hepatitis. The findings in the present study and in earlier investigations of sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis suggest that (i) the epidemic form and a proportion of sporadic cases of this infection in India may be related, both being enterically transmitted and associated with infection by a 27- to 32-nm virus-like particle, (ii) antibody responses to this virus occur early in disease and are transient and (iii) the rhesus monkey may prove to be a suitable model for studies of epidemic non-A, non-B hepatitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Panda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Nayak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014771:Virion / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase