戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）合成肽及基因重组抗的免疫反应性研究

用ＯＲＦ２、ＯＲＦ３合成肽抗原（１－１０号）及基因工程重组的ＯＲＦ２抗原（１和２号）分别建立了酶联免疫方法（ＥＩＡ）,检测６０份戊型肝炎病人血清中ＨＥＶＩｇＧ及ＩｇＭ１０个合成肽抗原及２人重组抗原,均和ＨＥＶ阳性血清发生特异反应,但阳性率和反应强度差别很大。以Ｒｅｌ（ＯＲＦ２,４０２－６６０）检测的抗体阳性率最高,为９６．７％;Ｓｐ６（ＯＲＦ３,８８－１２３）次之,为９３．３％（５６／６０）;以上     

人类免疫缺陷病毒1／2型抗体检测酶联免疫试剂盒的研制

采用二聚体合成肽（ＨＩＶ－１ｇｐ４１、ｇｐ１２０、ｐ２４和ＨＩＶ－２ｇｐ３６）包被酶标板条制备成固相抗原,与鼠抗人ＩｇＧ单克隆抗体酶标记物、底物ＴＭＢ及阴阳性参考血清配套制备成ＨＩＶ抗体ＥＩＡ试剂盒,专供检测人血清或血浆ＨＩＶ１／２抗体之用。以荷兰、韩国及万泰试剂作为对照,用该试剂盒对检定所的Ｐａｎｅｌ标准及献血员１５５５０例（其中ＨＣＶ抗体阳性１２８例,ＨＢｓＡｇ阳性４６例）进行检测,四种试剂对检定所Ｐａｎｅｌ标准的１３份阳性血清均呈阳性反应,２８份阴性血清均为阴性;献血员１５５５０例,四种试剂对其中１份血清均呈阳性反应,经Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎｂｌｏｔ试验证实为阴性,四种试剂的阴性检出率均为９９．９９％。连续制备三批试剂经中国药品生物制品检定所检定,所检项目全部合格;同时委托检定所进行临床考核,４７份阳性血清全部呈阳性反应,１５０份阴性血清全部为阴性。说明该试剂盒具有很好的敏感性和特异性。     

用人工合成的丁型肝炎病毒抗原多肽检测丁肝病毒IgM抗体及其初步应用

用人工合成的丁型肝炎病毒抗原（ＨＤＶ－Ａｇ）肽建立了检测抗ＨＤＶ－ＩｇＭ抗体的ＥＬＩＳＡ方法,本法操作简便、快速,重复性好,特异性强,与抗ＨＡＶ－ＩｇＭ、抗Ｈｋ－ＩｇＭ、抗ＨＢｓ－ＩｇＭ、抗ＨＣＶ－ＩｇＩ、抗ＣＭＶ－ＩｇＭ、抗ＲＶ－ＩｇＭ、类风湿因子（ＲＦ）及抗核抗体（ＡＮＡ）阳性血清均不起反应,且可被２－巯基乙醇阻断而不起反应。经初步临床应用,３１例正常人血清抗ＨＤＶ－ＩｇＭ全部阴性,２８例慢活肝患者检出率为３２．１％（９／２８）,１７例慢迁肝患者血清阳性率为１１．８％（２／１７）１８例肝癌和肝硬化病人血清阳性率为２２．２％（４／１８）这三组病人与正常对照者相比较均有显著性差异（Ｐ＜０．００１）。此外,抗ＨＤＶ－ＩｇＭ阳性血清的ＡＬＴ值均明显高于正常参考范围,提示在ＨＤＶ感染过程中,患者肝细胞进一步受损。实验结果证明,抗ＨＤＶ－ＩｇＭ是诊断ＨＤＶ感染的重要指标,对ＨＤＶ感染早期诊断具有重要价值。     

乙型肝炎病人重叠感染丙型肝炎的评价

应用ＥＬＩＳＡ和ＰＣＲ法检测５０２例乙肝病人血清,４０１例ＨＢｓＡｇ阳性血清中,有１１４例（２８．４％）抗－ＨＣＶ和ＨＣＶＲＮＡ双项阳性,２５例（６．２％）ＨＣＶＲＮＡ单项阳性;２１例（５．２％）抗－ＨＣＶ单项阳性。将ＨＢｓＡｇ乙肝病人分成ＨＢＶＤＮＡ,ＨＢｅＡｇ阳性组和ＨＢＶＤＮＡ,ＨＢｅＡｇ阴性组。前者抗－ＨＣＶ阳性率为１１．６％～２０．５％,ＨＣＶＲＮＡ阳性率为１６．２％～２０．５％。后者抗－ＨＣＶ阳性率为２０．２％～５５．６％,ＨＣＶＲＮＡ阳性率为２３％～６０．３％。结果说明长期携带ＨＢＶ者和慢性乙肝病人均可重叠ＨＣＶ感染。ＨＢＶＤＮＡ阳性组抗－ＨＣＶ和ＨＣＶＲＮＡ阳性率明显高于ＨＢＶＤＮＡ阳性组     

丙型肝炎病毒E2基因DNA免疫实验动物研究

将编码丙型肝炎病毒（ＨＣＶ）Ｅ２蛋白４１７～７５０位氨基酸的ＤＮＡ片段　克隆到真核表达载体ｐｃＤＮＡ　３．１（－）中的ＣＭＶ　ＩＥ启动子下游,构建成ＨＣＶ　Ｅ２重组真核表达质粒　ｐｃＥ２。ＥＬＩＳＡ法检测ｐｃＥ２　ＤＮＡ免疫兔血清中的Ｅ２抗体变化和维持规律,结果显示免疫２０ｄ已有　抗体产生,３０ｄ后开始进入高峰,４０ｄ时达到最高值,至第９０ｄ抗体水平保持平稳,抗体滴度　达到１∶１６００左右。流式细胞计数仪（ＦＡＣＳ）检测ｐｃＥ２　ＤＮＡ免疫鼠ＣＤ４＋、ＣＤ８＋Ｔ淋巴细胞变　化情况,与注射空载体ｐＣＤＮＡ３．１（－）的阴性鼠相比,ＣＤ４＋淋巴细胞水平略有上升,ＣＤ８＋　细胞水平有较大升高,增幅达３５．４６％。免疫组化检测结果显示注射ｐｃＥ２的小鼠组织中有明显　的阳性着色,而注射ｐｃＤＮＡ３．１（－）的对照组小鼠免疫组化结果为阴性。以上结果表明：ｐｃＥ２　在实验动物内表达出的ＨＣＶ　Ｅ２蛋白可以引起免疫动物的体液免疫应答和细胞免疫应答,尤其　是ＭＨＣ－１限制性杀伤性ＣＤ８＋Ｔ淋巴细胞水平的提高对清除　病毒是十分有利的,因此ＨＣＶ　Ｅ２　ＤＮＡ免疫有可能成为预防和治疗ＨＣＶ感染的一条新途径。     

戊型肝炎病人血清抗—HEV IgG与IgM和HEV RNA的动态变化

利用酶联免疫试验（ＥＩＡ）及逆转录－聚合酶链反应（ＲＴ－ＰＣＲ）,检测了２１０份急性非甲非乙非丙肝炎患者血清和４０例戊型肝炎（戊肝）病人系列血清。在急性非甲非乙非丙肝炎血清中,抗－ＨＥＶ ＩｇＧ、抗－ＨＥＶ ＩｇＭ和ＨＥＶ ＲＮＡ阳性率分别为６２．８６％、４５．２３％和４０．４８％。在戊肝系列血清检测中,抗－ＨＥＶ ＩｇＧ阳性率发病１个月内为９２．５％,发病２￣６个月１００％,１２个月９４．７％,     

抗原捕获聚合酶链式反应（AC—PCR）直接分型检测单纯疱疹病毒

用抗单纯疱疹病毒（ＨＳＶ）型共同性ｇＣ和ｇＤ单克隆抗体（ＭｃＡｂ）,包被Ｅｐｐｅｎｄｏｒｆ管,捕捉ＨＳＶ,同时加入３个引物：一个是ＨＳＶ－１／ＨＳＶ－型共同性上游引物,另两个分别是ＨＳＶ－１和ＨＳＶ－２型特异性下游引物。借此建立了能直接分型检测ＨＳＶ的抗原捕获聚合酶链式反应（ＡＣ－ＰＣＲ）。ＨＳＶ－１的扩增产物为４７７ｂｐ,ＨＳＶ－２的为３９９ｂｐ,两型病毒经ＡＣ－ＰＣＲ扩增后产生分子量不同的ＤＮ     

新型HCV EIA诊断试剂盒的研制

丙型肝炎病毒（ＨＣＶ）基因组结构区核壳蛋白（Ｃ）区抗原、膜蛋白Ｅ１和Ｅ２区抗原,以及非结构区ＮＳ３－ＮＳ５区抗原的区段,已经在原核细胞中获得有效的表达。同时,相应区段中的优势抗原表位肽也经化学合成法大规模地制备。ＨＣＶ基因组上各区段抗原性的分析发现,由Ｃ区和ＮＳ３区分别编码的Ｃ抗原和Ｃ３３ｃ抗原是ＨＣＶ基因组上两个优势抗原区段。其相应的抗体出现早（感染后６周可检出抗Ｃ３３ｃ抗体）,阳转率高（约９９％阳性检出率）,特异性和重复性均优于其它区段抗原。以中国人ＨＣＶ的Ｃ３３ｃ重组蛋白和分支状合成肽ＭＡＰ－Ｃ－１９为复合抗原,研制了适合我国抗ＨＣＶ抗体检测的新型丙型肝炎病毒酶免疫测定（ＨＣＶＥＬＡ）诊断试剂盒。它同当代美国Ａｂｂｏｔｔ／ＵＢＩＨＣＶＥＬＡ诊断试剂的符合率约９８％,同加拿大ＹＥＳ公司ＨＣＶＥＩＡ诊断试剂的符合率约９７．８％,阳性检出率提高了约２％,３次重复性达１００％,表明其特异性、敏感性和重复性均达到了当代第二代ＪＣＶＥＬＡ诊断试剂的水平。我国人群中抗ＨＣＶ抗体的分布情况为：正常人群的检出率１％－２％;外科类住院病人检出率约２８．８％;肝炎患者抗ＨＣＶ阳性率为３４．４％,慢活肝、肝硬化和重症肝炎患者     

人工合成多肽检测抗HIV－1和HIV－2抗体的研究

采用固相法合成ＨＩＶ－１和ＨＩＶ－２两个多肽,建立了用混合多肽为包被抗原检测ＨＩＶ－１和ＨＩＶ－２感染的间接酶联免疫吸附法。检测４６份抗ＨＩＶ－１和ＨＩＶ－２抗体阳性血清标本以及９４份对照血清标本,与ＵＢＩ试剂比较,其阳性符合率为９７．８％,阴性符合率为１００％,总符合率为９９．３％。实验结果表明,此法可用于ＨＩＶ－１和ＨＩＶ－２感染的检测。     

单纯疱疹病毒通用及Ⅱ型特异性DNA探针的制备及应用研究

单纯疱疹病毒（ＨＳＶ）Ⅰ型及Ⅱ型之间有很多共同抗原,能引起血清学交叉反应,鉴别诊断比较困难。本实验利用重组ＤＮＡ技术,将部分ＨＳＶ－２ＤＮＡ的ＰｓｔＩ片段克隆到载体质粒ＰＳＫ中,并筛选出两个重组质粒（Ｐ和Ｐ）只与ＨＳＶ－２反应,与ＨＳＶ－１不反应,这两个重组质粒中所含的ＨＳＶ－２ＤＮＡ片段大小分别是３．１和４．３ｋｂ,另外,还筛选了一个重组质粒（ＰＨＳＶ２－１,含５．８ｋｂＨＳＶ－２ＤＮＡ片段）与ＨＳＶ－１和ＨＳＶ－２均反应。将４．３ｋｂ的片段用光生物素标记后作为探针检测了１５９份人阴道拭子,其中２３份样品呈阳性反应,其余均为阴性,从２３份阳性样品中挑选１２价涂片用间接荧光抗体法检测也都呈阳性反应,随机挑选的几份杂交反应阴性样品在间接荧光试验中也是阴性。本实验制备的ＨＳＶ通用及ＨＳＶ－２型特异性探针将比常规的血清学方法诊断和鉴别ＨＳＶ－１和ＨＳＶ－２感染更为可靠。     

A Novel Blocking ELISA for Detection of Antibodies against Hepatitis E Virus in Domestic Pigs

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infects both humans and animals, with an overall human mortality rate generally less than 1%, but as high as 20% among pregnant women. HEV strains fall into 4 major genotypes. Zoonotic genotypes 3 and 4 associate with sporadic human and animal HEV cases in many industrialized countries. To date, collective evidence implicates pigs as the main HEV reservoir, justifying the importance of monitoring HEV infection rates in pig herds to prevent human illness. Due to the lack of a robust in vitro cell culture system for viral propagation, no “gold standard” assay has yet been developed to detect HEV infection in domestic pigs. 1E4, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for the C-terminal 268 amino acids of HEV genotype 4 ORF2 capsid protein (sORF2-C), was generated and conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) for use in a blocking ELISA (bELISA). Optimal sORF2-C coating antigen concentration (8 μg/ml), HRP-1E4 dilution (1:1000), and test pig serum dilution (1:20) were determined using a checkerboard titration test. A cut-off value of 16.9% was chosen to differentiate between positive vs. negative sera after mean percent inhibition (PI) testing of 230 negative pig sera. Compared with the indirect ELISA (iELISA), western blot, and a commercial ELISA kit for detecting anti-HEV antibodies in human sera, the bELISA showed no statistical differences and statistically high coincidence of 93.23%, 92%, and 95% with the other tests, respectively. A blocking ELISA (bELISA) for detecting anti-HEV antibodies in pig serum samples was developed with high sensitivity and high specificity comparable to that of the indirect ELISA. The bELISA results exhibited high agreement with iELISA, western blot, and a commercial ELISA kit designed to detect human anti-HEV antibodies. Therefore, bELISA should serve as an ideal method for large-scale serological investigation of anti-HEV antibodies in domestic pigs.     

Seroprevalence and Incidence of hepatitis E in Blood Donors in Upper Austria

Background

In recent years various studies showed, that hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a growing public health problem in many developed countries. Therefore, HEV infections might bear a transmission risk by blood transfusions. The clinical relevance still requires further investigations. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of acute HEV infections in Upper Austrian blood donors as well as a risk estimation of this transfusion-related infection.

Methods and Findings

A total of 58,915 blood donors were tested for HEV RNA using a commercial HEV RT-PCR Kit. 7 of these donors (0.01%) were PCR-positive with normal laboratory parameters in absence of clinical signs of hepatitis. Viral load determined by quantitative real-time PCR showed a HEV nucleic acid concentration of 2,217 293,635 IU/ml. At follow-up testing (2–11 weeks after donation) all blood donors had negative HEV RNA results. Additionally, genotyping was performed by amplification and sequencing of the ORF1 or ORF2 region of the HEV genome. All HEV RNA positive donor samples revealed a genotype 3 isolate. For the antibody screening, anti-HEV IgM and IgG were detected by ELISA. Follow up serological testing revealed that no donor was seropositive for HEV IgM or IgG antibodies at time of donation. Moreover, we verified the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG in 1,203 of the HEV RNA negative tested blood donors. Overall 13.55% showed positive results for anti-HEV IgG.

Conclusions

In the presented study, we investigated HEV infections in blood donations of Upper Austria over 1 year. We concluded that 1 out of 8,416 blood donations is HEV RNA positive. Seroprevalence of anti HEV IgG results in an age-related increase of 13.55%. Therefore, based on this data, we recommend HEV-PCR screening to prevent transmission of hepatitis E virus by transfusion.     

Mapping of linear B cell epitopes on open reading frames 2- and 3-encoded proteins of hepatitis E virus using synthetic peptides

Abstract Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of non-A, non-B hepatitis which is transmitted by the fecal-oral route and occurs principally in the form of large epidemics and outbreaks in developing countries. Two overlapping synthetic peptides corresponding to overlapping DNA sequences of the ORF 3 of HEV genome were found to be immunoreactive with sera from patients involved in two epidemics of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis. The results suggested the existence of two distinct epitopes. The four synthetic peptides representing these two epitopes from Burma and Mexico strains of hepatitis E virus, were used to investigate anti-HEV reactivities. HEV antibodies were detected in 84–88% of HEV-infected individuals according to the peptide used. The results suggest that a peptide-based ELISA can provide an accurate tool for the diagnosis of acute hepatitis type E.     

Detection of hantaviral antibodies among patients with hepatitis of unknown etiology in Japan

Hantaviral antibodies were detected in the sera from patients with hepatic disease of unknown etiology in Japan by several different serological diagnostic methods. A total of 105 sera from diseased patients which were negative to A-G hepatitis virus infections in the Tokyo area were tested. Among them, 3 out of 73 sera from patients with chronic hepatic disease were positive to hantaviral antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay (IFA) and Western blot analysis (WB). Neutralizing antibody titers of the 3 sera to Seoul virus (SEO) were 4 to 8 times higher than those to Hantaan virus (HTN). However, all of the 32 sera from patients with acute hepatitis were negative for hantaviral antibody. Among the 60 patients with chronic hepatitis in Hokkaido which were serologically negative to B and C hepatitis virus infection, one was positive for hantaviral antibody by ELISA and WB. In contrast, the sera from healthy adults in Japan, 550 from the Honshu and Kyushu regions, and 1,000 from the Hokkaido region, were negative for hantavirus antibody. These results show that hantaviral antibodies are more frequently detected in patients with hepatic disease than in healthy adults. However, the observation that no positive sera were detected from patients with acute hepatitis implies that hantavirus might not be directly related to hepatitis.     

戊型肝炎病毒(HEV)合成肽及基因重组抗原免疫反应性研究

用ＯＲＦ２、ＯＲＦ３合成肽抗原（１～１０号）及基因工程重组的ＯＲＦ２抗原（１和２号）分别建立了酶联免疫方法（ＥＩＡ）,检测６０份戊型肝炎病人血清中ＨＥＶＩｇＧ及ＩｇＭ１０个合成肽抗原（Ｓｐ１－Ｓｐ１０）及２个重组抗原（Ｒｅ１、Ｒｅ２）,均和ＨＥＶ阳性血清发生特异反应,但阳性率和反应强度差别很大。以Ｒｅ１（ＯＲＦ２,４０２～６６０）检测的抗体阳性率最高,为９６．７％（５８／６０）;Ｓｐ６（ＯＲＦ３,８８～１２３）次之,为９３．３％（５６／６０）;以上两种抗原混合使用阳性率为１００％（６０／６０）。Ｓｐ６、Ｒｅ１及这两种抗原混合使用检测抗ＨＥＶＩｇＭ,阳性率分别为１８．３％（１１／６０）、６６．７％（４０／６０）和６６．７％（４０／６０）。研究结果表明：合成肽６号（Ｓｐ６）及重组抗原１号（Ｒｅ１）是制备戊肝抗体诊断试剂的理想抗原。     

Suitability of yeast- and Escherichia coli-expressed hepatitis B virus core antigen derivatives for detection of anti-HBc antibodies in human sera

Antibody to hepatitis B virus core antigen (anti-HBc) is one of the most important serological markers during hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The quality of the hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg; diagnostic antigen) is crucial to the accuracy of anti-HBc detection. In an attempt to explore the suitability of recombinant HBcAg (rHBcAg) for diagnostic purposes, HBcAg was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) and evaluated for the detection of anti-HBc. The expression level of the recombinant protein satisfied the criteria for large-scale biologic production. P. pastoris- and E. coli-derived rHBcAg were purified with gel filtration followed by sucrose gradient (reagents A and C) or with a monoclonal anti-HBc antibody binding (reagents B and D) and were utilized to detect anti-HBc in competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format. The ELISA using P. pastoris-derived rHBcAg had a higher specificity and sensitivity than that using E.coli-derived rHBcAg to detect the anti-HBc standard panel. Serum specimens were collected from HBV-infected patients and healthy individuals (voluntary blood donors). Anti-HBc was detected in those specimens using P. pastoris- and E. coli-derived rHBcAg. The positive rate of anti-HBc detection in HBV-infected patients' sera was 100% with reagents A and B, 96.4% with reagent C, and 93.6% with reagent D. The negative rate in healthy control sera was 100% with reagents A and B, 97.0% with reagent C, and 99.7% with reagent D. These data indicate that P. pastoris-derived rHBcAg is superior to E.coli-derived rHBcAg for the detection of anti-HBc using the diagnostic ELISA.     

应用基因重组抗原诊断丙型肝炎研究

丙型肝炎病毒(Hepatis C virus,HCV)感染者的血液中病毒含量极低,还没有适当的方法可以直接检测病毒。现在常用免疫学方法测定特异性抗体[1]或利用 PCR 技术检测病毒核酸。由于 HCV基因组变异高达33%,PCR检测易发生假阳性和假阴性。同时由于丙肝抗原高度的变异性[2],虽然目前ELISA方法应用广泛,但是单一的诊断抗原已不能满足临床要求,需要多价抗原联合应用作为诊断试剂。目前,在我国流行的丙型肝炎病毒主要是Ⅱ型和Ⅲ型,国外的丙型肝炎诊断试剂研制单位主要是以Ⅰ型为主[3],而且进口的丙型肝炎诊断试剂昂贵,不适合在我国大量使…     

Expression of the porcine circovirus type 2 capsid protein subunits and application to an indirect ELISA

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is considered to be associated with post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), which is a newly emerged economically important swine disease. The entire coding region of open reading frame 2 (ORF2), encoding the viral capsid protein (Cap), of PCV2 was cloned and sequenced from the clinical specimen obtained from PMWS-affected piglets. Six recombinant subunits, A-F, spanning the defined regions of Cap were produced by E. coli expression system and used as antigens for testing their reactivities with swine sera in the indirect ELISA. The recombinant Cap subunit-based ELISA was evaluated by examining a panel of 12 PCV2-negative and 26 PCV2-positive sera. When the positive/negative cut-off value was set at the mean value of negative sera plus 3 standard deviations, all subunits-based ELISA demonstrated 100% specificities. The N-terminal subunits, A and B, revealed poor reactivity with positive swine sera, whereas, greater immunoreactivity was observed for the C-terminal subunits of which subunits C and D demonstrated good sensitivities of 96.2% and 84.6%, respectively. The recombinant Cap subunits possessing defined antigenicity are easy to produce and the subunit-based ELISA was developed with a high specificity and sensitivity that may provide a useful method for routine serodiagnosis of PCV2 infection.     

Serological evidence for hepatitis e virus infection in laboratory monkeys and pigs in animal facilities in Japan

In laboratory animal facilities, monkeys and pigs are used for animal experiments, but the details of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in these animals are unknown. The risk of infection from laboratory animals to humans has become a concern; therefore, much attention should be paid to the handling of these animals during their care and use, including surgical procedures performed on infected animals. In this connection, serum samples collected from 916 monkeys and 77 pigs kept in 23 animal facilities belonging to the Japanese Association of Laboratory Animal Facilities of National University Corporations (JALAN) and the Japanese Association of Laboratory Animal Facilities of Public and Private Universities (JALAP) in Japan were examined for the purpose of detecting antibodies to HEV and HEV RNA by using ELISA and RT-PCR, respectively. One hundred and seven serum samples of 916 (11.7%) monkeys were positive for anti-HEV IgG, and 7 and 17 serum samples of 916 (0.8% and 5.3%) monkeys were positive for anti-HEV IgM and IgA, respectively. Thirty-six samples from 62 (58.1%) farm pigs were positive for anti-HEV IgG, whereas all samples tested from miniature pigs were negative (0/15, 0%). Seven samples from 62 (9.1%) farm pigs and 7 samples from 916 (0.8%) monkeys were positive for IgM antibody, but these HEV-IgM antibody positive serum samples were HEV-RNA negative by RT-PCR. The IgM antibody positive rate (9.1%) of farm pigs was much higher than that of monkeys (0.8%). These results suggest the relative levels of risk of HEV infection from these animals to animal handlers and researchers who work with them in laboratory animal facilities.     

Seroprevalence of antibodies to hepatitis A and E viruses in pediatric age groups in Turkey

Hepatitis A and hepatitis E are enteric transmitted viral diseases occurring in epidemic and sporadic forms especially in developing countries. Previous studies in Turkey showed that most residents are infected with HAV by the second decade of life. Since HEV is generally transmitted by the same route as HAV we conducted a community-based seroprevalence study for HAV and HEV infection in Ahatli area in Antalya, Turkey where socioeconomic conditions are low. Anti-HAV total immunoglobulin was tested by using a microparticle EIA (Axsym-Abbott Lab). Anti-HEV IgG was assayed by a micro ELISA method (Genelabs-Singapore). Of the 338 sera tested, 112 (33.1%) were positive for anti-HAV total antibody. Anti-HEV IgG was detected in three (0.89%) of the serum samples. Seropositivity rates of HAV in preschool and school children were 19.9% and 43.9% respectively (p < 0.001). No antibody to HEV was detected in preschool children, while the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG was 1.6% in children attending school. Our data showed that seroprevalence of anti-HAV is high among children samples but HEV infection appears to be relatively rare in pediatric age groups.