Hepatitis C virus infection, Linxian, China.
Bloodborne viruses may have spread in rural China during the past 25 years, but population-based prevalence estimates are lacking. We examined the frequency of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV type 1 (HIV-1) among residents of Linxian, a rural community in Henan Province. In 2000, blood was collected from participants (> or = 55 years of age) who had enrolled in a population-based nutritional intervention trial in 1985. We randomly selected 500 participants for HCV testing and 200 participants for HIV-1 testing. For HCV, 48 (9.6%) of 500 participants were positive by enzyme immunoassay and recombinant immunoblot assay (95% confidence interval, 7.0%-12.2%), and prevalence was lowest in the most geographically isolated participants. Among the HCV-infected participants, 42 had a specimen available from 1985, of which 16 (38.1%) were positive for HCV. For HIV-1, 0/200 participants were positive. We conclude that HCV is now a common infection among older adults in Linxian, China.
Zhang
Mingdong
M
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6120 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
Sun
Xiu-Di
XD
Mark
Steven D
SD
Chen
Wen
W
Wong
Lara
L
Dawsey
Sanford M
SM
Qiao
You-Lin
YL
Fraumeni
Joseph F
JF
Taylor
Philip R
PR
O'Brien
Thomas R
TR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D015483:HIV Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies