title: Prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus in the blood donor population of Rio de Janeiro.
abstract: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies in 2,557 asymptomatic volunteer Brazilian blood donors is reported. Using the line immunoassay (Inno-LIA) as a confirmatory test on ELISA anti-HCV-positive reacting sera, a prevalence rate of 2.7% for anti-HCV positivity was found. By comparison, prevalences of 1.6% for hepatitis B surface antigen, 0.9% for Treponema pallidum, 0.4% for human immunodeficiency virus and 0.04% for Trypanosoma cruzi were observed. Only 57% of the HCV-positive donors had elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. Using previous criteria, based on surrogate markers (ALT > or = 50 IU/l and for anti-hepatitis B core antibody), for HCV infection at that time, only 25% of the HCV-positive donations would have been eliminated. In view of the high prevalence of anti-HCV reactivity among the Brazilian blood donor population and the poor reliability of surrogate markers, it is recommended that routine screening for anti-HCV in Brazilian blood donors is introduced.
authors.affiliation: Innogenetics, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: B O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Vanderborght
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Rouzere
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maertens
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van Heuverswijn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreira Pereira
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001782:Blood Donors; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012698:Serologic Tests
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D000410:Alanine Transaminase