title: Combined hepatitis C virus (HCV) antigen-antibody detection assay does not improve diagnosis for seronegative individuals with occult HCV infection.
abstract: A combined hepatitis C virus (HCV) antigen-antibody assay was evaluated for 115 seronegative individuals with occult HCV infection. The assay was reactive in one patient and negative to weakly reactive in three others (all four gave indeterminate results by supplemental assay) but failed to detect HCV in the remaining patients. Despite increased sensitivity the combined assay does not improve serodiagnosis of occult HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Fundación para el Estudio de las Hepatitis Virales, Guzmán el Bueno 72, 28015 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Quiroga
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pardo
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Iñigo
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Carreño
mesh_terms: D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens