title: Magnitude of hepatitis C virus infection in India: prevalence in healthy blood donors, acute and chronic liver diseases.
abstract: An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was developed in-house for the detection of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody against the prevailing genotypes in India. The specific reactivity of the test was compared with commercial second and third-generation EIAs and reverse transcription nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR). Fifteen thousand nine hundred twenty-two healthy blood donors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, were screened for anti-HCV antibody. Two hundred ninety-five (1.85%) of these donors were positive. The screening was also used to determine how many patients with acute hepatitis and chronic liver diseases were positive for anti-HCV antibody. Five hundred sixty-four chronic liver disease patients were screened for anti-HCV antibody and 78 (13.83%) were found positive. Two hundred forty-seven sporadic acute viral hepatitis patients were screened for viral infection markers. Hepatitis B and E viruses (HBV and HEV) were the major etiologic agents. HCV was associated with 9% of the acute cases. Anti-HCV core IgM with HCV RNA detection were found to be helpful for the diagnosis of acute HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Panigrahi
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Panda
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dixit
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dasarathy
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nanu
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001782:Blood Donors; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies