Hepatitis C virus infection in blood donors from the state of Puebla, Mexico.
BACKGROUND
Worldwide, 130 million persons are estimated to be infected with HCV. Puebla is the Mexican state with the highest mortality due to hepatic cirrhosis. Therefore, it is imperative to obtain epidemiological data on HCV infection in asymptomatic people of this region. The objective of present study was to analyze the prevalence of antibodies and genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in blood donors from Puebla, Mexico.


RESULTS
The overall prevalence was 0.84% (515/61553). Distribution by region was: North, 0.86% (54/6270); Southeast, 1.04% (75/7197); Southwest, 0.93% (36/3852); and Central, 0.79% (350/44234). Ninety-six donors were enrolled for detection and genotyping of virus, from which 37 (38.5%) were HCV-RNA positive. Detected subtypes were: 1a (40.5%), 1b (27.0%), mixed 1a/1b (18.9%), undetermined genotype 1 (5.4%), 2a (2.7%), 2b (2.7%), and mixed 1a/2a (2.7%). All recovered donors with S/CO > 39 were HCV-RNA positive (11/11) and presented elevated ALT; in donors with S/CO < 39 HCV-RNA, positivity was of 30.4%; and 70% had normal values of ALT. The main risk factors associated with HCV infection were blood transfusion and surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
HCV prevalence of donors in Puebla is similar to other Mexican states. The most prevalent genotype is 1, of which subtype 1a is the most frequent.
Sosa-Jurado
Francisca
F
Laboratorio de Biología Molecular y Virología, Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Oriente, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Puebla, Mexico.
Santos-López
Gerardo
G
Guzmán-Flores
Belinda
B
Ruiz-Conde
Julia I
JI
Meléndez-Mena
Daniel
D
Vargas-Maldonado
Martín T
MT
Martínez-Laguna
Ygnacio
Y
Contreras-Mioni
Laura
L
Vallejo-Ruiz
Verónica
V
Reyes-Leyva
Julio
J
D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001782:Blood Donors; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D000410:Alanine Transaminase