Prevalence of hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection in an endemic area of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the prevalence of hepatitis G virus infection among inhabitants of a hepatitis C virus endemic area.


METHODS
Two hundred and eighty-eight inhabitants, who underwent medical examinations for health screening, were enrolled in this epidemiological study. HGV RNA and HCV RNA were detected by polymerase chain reaction. We also examined anti-HGV envelope protein (E2) antibodies in all serum samples.


RESULTS
In these 288 inhabitants, we found anti-HCV antibodies (HCV-Ab) and HCV RNA in 28.5% and 17.4%, respectively. HGV RNA and anti-HGV E2 were detected in 9 (3.1%) and 16 (5.5%), respectively. One patient was positive for both HGV RNA and anti-HGV E2. The exposure rate, expressed as the percentage of people with HGV RNA and/or anti-HGV E2, was 8.3%, which was significantly lower than the incidence of positive HCV-Ab. Of the 24 patients with HGV RNA and/or anti-HGV E2, 15 (62.5%) were positive for HCV-Ab, of those HCV RNA was detected in 9 (37.5%). Further, we found a higher prevalence of HGV exposure in patients with HCV-Ab than in those without (8.3% vs. 4.4%).


CONCLUSIONS
HGV infection was not identical to the epidemic hepatitis C virus infection among inhabitants of this town, suggesting that hepatitis C virus might be less infectious than hepatitis C virus.
Kitano
M
M
First Department of Internal Medicine, Okayama University Medical School, Japan.
Sakaguchi
K
K
Miyashita
M
M
Mouri
H
H
Senoh
T
T
Nishimura
M
M
Ohta
T
T
Fujio
K
K
Shimomura
H
H
Tsuji
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral