Prevalence of TT virus infection in US blood donors and populations at risk for acquiring parenterally transmitted viruses.
Two overlapping sets of TT virus (TTV)-specific polymerase chain reaction primers were used to test for presence of TTV, which was found in approximately 10% of US volunteer blood donors, 13% of commercial blood donors, and 17% of intravenous drug abusers. The rate of TTV infection among US non-A, non-B, non-C, non-D, non-E hepatitis patients was only 2%. Among commercial blood donors and intravenous drug abusers, only 1%-3% of the TTV-positive individuals were coinfected with GB virus C (GBV-C), a parenterally transmitted virus. This suggests that GBV-C and TTV may have different routes of transmission. Comparison of the sensitivities of 2 TTV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer sets showed that the majority of samples were detected with only 1 of the 2 sets. Therefore, previous studies in which only a single PCR primer pair was used may have significantly underestimated the true prevalence of TTV.
Desai
S M
SM
Abbott Laboratories, Virus Discovery Group, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA.
Muerhoff
A S
AS
Leary
T P
TP
Erker
J C
JC
Simons
J N
JN
Chalmers
M L
ML
Birkenmeyer
L G
LG
Pilot-Matias
T J
TJ
Mushahwar
I K
IK
D001782:Blood Donors; D017931:DNA Primers; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006518:Hepatitis Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral