title: [Seroepidemiological study on hepatitis C virus infection in an endemic area of hepatitis C virus].
abstract: To clarify the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in a rural area with high incidence of chronic liver disease in Japan, sera from 412 inhabitants, aged 20-89 years, collected in 1989-1990 and sera from 483 inhabitants in the same area, collected in 1982 were tested for anti-HCV (antibody to C100-3) with the first-generation enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay (ELISA). In addition, sera from 118 inhabitants, aged 20-49 years, collected in 1989-1990 were tested for HCV-RNA with the polymerase chain reaction technique, with use of primers from the 5'-untranslated region of the HCV genome. Anti-HCV was positive in 175 out of 412 sera collected in 1989-1990 (42.5%): prevalence was higher in male (54.0%) than in female (34.9%). The prevalence rates in the 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70-89 year-old group were 0%, 14.3%, 51.9%, 41.7%, 49.1%, and 53.1%, respectively. On the other hand, in sera collected in 1982, the overall prevalence of anti-HCV was 42.5% (175 of 412). The prevalence rates in the 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70-89 year-old group were 12.5%, 43.3%, 51.5%, 50.3%, 60.7%, and 68.9%, respectively. The prevalence rate of young adults less than 40 years old in 1982 were higher than that in 1989-1990. In short, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in this area had altered a great deal. HCV-RAN was detected in 42 of 118 (35.6%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Hygiene, Oita Medical University.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Misumi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimaoka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; C064544:C100 protein, hepatitis C virus; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins