title: Prevalence of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus in Hungary.
abstract: In 1995 a new flavivirus, GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV), was discovered. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the virus in healthy persons and hepatitis patients in Hungary. The sera of 408 healthy persons older than 60 years were tested for the presence of GBV-C/HGV antibodies, and 113 were positive (28%). Eight of the 71 healthy persons younger than 60 years and twenty of the 51 sera (39%) taken from patients suffering from hepatitis of unknown origin proved to be positive for GBV-C/HGV antibodies. Ten of the 124 sera (8%) of healthy persons and 36 of the 247 sera (14.6%) of hepatitis patients proved to be positive for GBV-C/HGV RNA. Eleven PCR products were sequenced, and the sequences were found to be different from each other and from the previously published ones. However, three sequences taken from the same patient at different times were identical. These results show that GBV-C/HGV is present in Hungary and cannot be considered rare.
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, 'Béla Johan' National Center for Epidemiology, H-1097, Gyáli út 2-6, Budapest, Hungary. takmar@freemail.hu
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takács
authors.forename: Katalin N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Szomor
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szendroi
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dencs
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brojnás
authors.forename: Erzsébet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rusvai
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berencsi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D029407:GB virus C / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral