title: High prevalence of GB virus C in Brazil and molecular evidence for intrafamilial transmission.
abstract: The prevalence of GB virus C (GBV-C) in candidate Brazilian blood donors with normal and elevated alanine aminotransferase levels was found to be 5.2% (5 of 95) and 6.5% (5 of 76), respectively. Among Brazilian patients, GBV-C was found in 9.5% (13 of 137) of cases of hepatitis not caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV), HBV, HCV, HDV, or HEV (non-A-E hepatitis) and in 18.2% (8 of 44) of individuals infected with HCV. Molecular characterization of GBV-C by partial sequencing of the NS3 region showed clustering between members of a single family, implying intrafamilial transmission. In conclusion, these results together suggest that contagion mechanisms which facilitate intrafamilial transmission of GBV-C may partially explain the high prevalence of viremic carriers worldwide.
authors: Serviço de Virologia, Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo, Brazil. jrrpinho@usp.br
authors: J R
authors: JR
authors: Pinho
authors: P M
authors: PM
authors: Zanotto
authors: J L
authors: JL
authors: Ferreira
authors: L M
authors: LM
authors: Sumita
authors: F J
authors: FJ
authors: Carrilho
authors: L C
authors: LC
authors: da Silva
authors: M L
authors: ML
authors: Capacci
authors: A O
authors: AO
authors: Silva
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Guz
authors: F L
authors: FL
authors: Gonçales
authors: N S
authors: NS
authors: Gonçales
authors: G A
authors: GA
authors: Buck
authors: G A
authors: GA
authors: Meyers
authors: A P
authors: AP
authors: Bernardini
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001782:Blood Donors; D001938:Brazil; D005190:Family; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins