AI Article Synopsis

  • The study aims to assess the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among intravenous drug users (IDUs) in Shanghai, China, involving 432 participants.
  • Initial screening found 60.6% seropositive for HCV, with subsequent testing confirming an overall seropositive rate of 18.8% and a lower active infection rate of 4.2%.
  • The findings suggest that HCV prevalence is relatively low among these IDUs, with a spontaneous recovery rate higher than previously reported estimates.

Article Abstract

Aim: To characterize the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among Chinese intravenous drug users (IDUs).

Methods: A total of 432 adult IDUs (95 women and 337 men) in Shanghai were included in the study. The third-generation Elecsys Anti-HCV assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Sandhofer Strasse 116, D-68305, Mannheim, Germany) was used to screen for antibodies against HCV. The RIBA strip, a supplemental anti-HCV test with high specificity, was performed on all of the samples that tested positive during the initial screening. All of the anti-HCV positive samples were analyzed with a Cobas TaqMan 48 Analyzer (Roche Diagnostics) for direct detection of HCV RNA. All of the HCV RNA-positive samples were sequenced for genotype determination.

Results: The preliminary screening identified 262 (60.6%) subjects who were seropositive for HCV. Of the 62 females and 200 males seropositive subjects, 16 (16.7%) and 65 (19.3%), respectively, were confirmed by RIBA, yielding an overall HCV seropositive rate of 18.8%. Four female (6.5%) and 14 male (7.0%) subjects tested positive for HCV RNA, indicating an active infection rate of 4.2% for the entire study population. The 18 HCV RNA-positive serum samples were genotyped. Seven individuals were genotype 1b, and four were genotype 1a. One individual each was infected with genotypes 2a, 2b and 3a. Four subjects were co-infected with multiple strains: two with genotypes 1a and 2a, and two with genotypes 1b and 2a. The active infection rate among HCV-seropositive individuals was 22.2%, which was significantly lower than most estimates.

Conclusion: The prevalence of HCV is relatively low among IDUs in Shanghai, with a spontaneous recovery rate much higher than previous estimates.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3752567PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v19.i32.5320DOI Listing

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