| genetic analysis of hav strains in tunisia reveals two new antigenic variants. | to evaluate the genetic variability of hepatitis a virus (hav) isolates in tunisia, serum samples were collected from 99 patients in different tunisian areas in 2003 containing 92 cases with acute hepatitis, five with severe acute hepatitis and two with fulminant hepatitis. the entire vp1 gene was amplified and sequenced. sequences were then aligned and a phylogenetic analysis was performed. additionally, the amino acid (aa) sequence of the vp1 was determined. the analysis of tunisian hav isolat ... | 2007 | 17393293 |
| optimization of the virus concentration method using polyethyleneimine-conjugated magnetic beads and its application to the detection of human hepatitis a, b and c viruses. | to enhance the sensitivity of virus detection by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and reverse transcription pcr (rt-pcr), a novel virus concentration method using polyethyleneimine (pei)-conjugated magnetic beads was developed in our previous study. however, several viruses could not be concentrated by this method. in this paper, the conditions of virus concentration were optimized to concentrate a wide range of viruses more efficiently. the pei beads adsorbed viruses more efficiently than other ... | 2007 | 17433454 |
| disruption of innate immunity due to mitochondrial targeting of a picornaviral protease precursor. | mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (mavs) is an essential component of virus-activated signaling pathways that induce protective ifn responses. its localization to the outer mitochondrial membrane suggests an important yet unexplained role for mitochondria in innate immunity. here, we show that hepatitis a virus (hav), a hepatotropic picornavirus, ablates type 1 ifn responses by targeting the 3abc precursor of its 3c(pro) cysteine protease to mitochondria where it colocalizes with and cle ... | 2007 | 17438296 |
| emerging need for vaccination against hepatitis a virus in patients with chronic liver disease in korea. | vaccination against hepatitis a virus (hav) is recommended for patients with chronic liver disease (cld), but this has been deemed unnecessary in korea since the immunity against hav was almost universal in adults. however, this practice has never been reevaluated with respect to the changing incidence of adult acute hepatitis a. we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 278 patients with acute hepatitis a diagnosed from january 1995 to november 2005 and prospectively tested 419 consecu ... | 2007 | 17449927 |
| molecular epidemiology of hepatitis a in st. petersburg, russia, 1997-2003. | the molecular epidemiology of hepatitis a virus (hav) strains circulating in the st. petersburg and karelia regions was studied during 1997-2003. hepatitis a virus rna was isolated from both clinical samples (stools or sera) and environmental samples (sewage water). rt-pcr was carried out using different primer pairs from the vp1/2a and vp1 genomic regions, the variable parts of the hav genome. pcr products were sequenced and 306 nucleotides from the vp1/2a and 332 nucleotides from the vp1 regio ... | 2007 | 17457910 |
| inverse association between t-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-1 and t-bet in a mouse model of allergic rhinitis. | it has been suggested that human hepatitis a virus cellular receptor, also known as t-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-1 (tim-1), plays an important role in the development of allergic diseases on the basis of epidemiologic data, but the molecular mechanism has been unclear. in a murine model of ovalbumin (ova)-sensitized allergic rhinitis (ar), we examined the expression of tim-1 and its correlation with t helper1-associated transcription factor, t-bet, as a potential mediator of t-cell imm ... | 2007 | 17460580 |
| helicobacter pylori, hepatitis viruses a, c, e, antibodies and hbsag - prevalence and associated risk factors in pediatric communities of karachi. | objective: to document the prevalence of helicobacter pylori (h. pylori), hepatitis a virus (hav), hepatitis c virus (hcv), hepatitis e virus (hev) antibodies and hepatitis b virus surface antigen (hbsag), in the pediatric age group of low socioeconomic urban communities of karachi and to identify risk factors associated with these infections. design: cross-sectional survey. place and duration of study: three selected squatter settlements of karachi during april 2002 to december 2004. patients a ... | 2007 | 17462174 |
| hepatitis a vaccine associated with autoimmune hepatitis. | to describe a case of probable relapsing autoimmune hepatitis associated with vaccination against hepatitis a virus (hav). a case report and review of literature were written concerning autoimmune hepatitis in association with hepatitis a and other hepatotropic viruses. soon after the administration of formalin-inactivated hepatitis a vaccine, a man who had recently recovered from an uncharacterized but self-limiting hepatitic illness, experienced a severe deterioration (ast 1687 u/l, inr 1.4). ... | 2007 | 17465509 |
| detection and quantification by real-time rt-pcr of hepatitis a virus from inoculated tap waters, salad vegetables, and soft fruits: characterization of the method performances. | water, salad vegetables and fruits exposed to fecal contamination may cause outbreaks of hepatitis a. a protocol of viral concentration by filtration on electronegative membrane filter and a protocol based on a viral elution in tris-glycine buffer, ph 9.5 with concentration by polyethylene glycol precipitation were associated with real-time, reverse transcriptase-pcr to detect hepatitis a virus (hav) artificially inoculated in 2 l of tap water, or on 25 g of fruits or salad vegetables. these met ... | 2007 | 17490771 |
| outbreak of hepatitis a virus infection caused by food served in a restaurant. | | 2007 | 17515658 |
| codon usage and replicative strategies of hepatitis a virus. | hepatitis a virus (hav), the prototype of genus hepatovirus, has many biological characteristics that distinguish it from other members of the picornaviridae family. among these it is worth of note the need for an intact eif4g factor for the initiation of translation and thus the inability to shut down host protein synthesis by a similar mechanism as in other picornaviruses. consequently, hav must inefficiently compete for the cellular translational machinery and this may explain its poor growth ... | 2007 | 17524513 |
| [hepatitis a outbreak in transdanubia (hungary): molecular connections and epidemiological conclusions - 2006]. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is one of the most important cause of fecally transmitted acute infectious hepatitis worldwide. in hungary, beside the sporadic hav infections, outbreaks also occur, particularly in northeast part of the country where the subgenotype ia is endemic. the reported number of hav cases was less than 10 per year in southwest hungary. | 2007 | 17526446 |
| vaccination of newborns against hepatitis a in the presence of maternally derived antibodies. | infection by hepatitis a virus (hav) is a significant cause of childhood disease but effective vaccines are available. naturally acquired anti-hav antibodies ensure transfer of protective immunity which persists for up to 6 months in the newborn. such maternal anti-hav antibodies are able to inhibit the antibody responses in infants vaccinated with inactivated hepatitis a vaccines, although no clinically significant consequences of this are observed. by increasing the number of doses, for exampl ... | 2007 | 17555761 |
| hepatitis a vaccination in chronic liver disease: is it really required in a tropical country like india? | vaccination against hepatitis a virus (hav) has been recommended in patients with chronic liver disease to prevent any decompensation due to superinfection. this may not hold good in high endemic areas for hepatitis a like india. the aim of this study was to find out the seroprevalence of anti-hav antibodies in patients with chronic liver disease and to justify the need for vaccination against hepatitis a virus in these patients. one hundred and thirty three consecutive patients with cirrhosis o ... | 2007 | 17582184 |
| attachment of enteric viruses to bottles. | storage of water that was deliberately contaminated with enteric viruses in polyethylene terephthalate (pet) bottles led to a rapid decrease of the apparent viral load, thereby hampering the development of samples for a collaborative evaluation of viral detection methods for bottled water. to determine if this decrease was due to spontaneous inactivation or to adhesion, an elution protocol was developed and combined with a rapid and sensitive real-time reverse transcription-pcr-based method to q ... | 2007 | 17586668 |
| genetic analysis of hepatitis a virus protein 2c in sera from patients with fulminant and self-limited hepatitis a. | to examine whether genetic differences in hepatitis a virus (hav) are responsible for the range of clinical severities, we analyzed the hav 2c genome, whose mutations have previously been shown to be important for enhanced replication in cell culture systems and to be related to virulence in simians. | 2007 | 17591082 |
| hepatitis a virus detection in food: current and future prospects. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is responsible for around half of the total number of hepatitis infections diagnosed worldwide. hav infection is mainly propagated via the faecal-oral route and as a consequence of globalisation, transnational outbreaks of foodborne infections are reported with increasing frequency. molecular procedures are now available and should be employed for the direct surveillance of hav in food and environmental samples. | 2007 | 17594452 |
| incidence and seroprevalence of hepatitis a virus infections among young korean soldiers. | this study was performed to determine the incidence and seroprevalence of hepatitis a virus (hav) infections in young soldiers in the republic of korea army. from january 2000 through december 2004, a total of 147 hepatitis a cases were reported to the armed forces medical command. the annual incidence rates were 7.4 per 100,000 persons in 2000, 1.6 in 2001, 4.4 in 2002, 9.8 in 2003, and 6.2 in 2004, based on the reported cases among approximately 500,000 soldiers. all patients were males with a ... | 2007 | 17596668 |
| resistance of surface-dried virus to common disinfection procedures. | it is believed that surface-dried viruses can remain infectious and may therefore pose a threat to public health. to help address this issue, we studied 0.1 n naoh and 0.1% hypochlorite for their capacity to inactivate surface-dried lipid-enveloped (le) [human immunodeficiency virus (hiv), bovine viral diarrhoea virus (bvdv) and pseudorabies virus (prv)] and non-lipid-enveloped [nle; canine parvovirus (cpv) and hepatitis a virus (hav)] viruses in a background of either plasma or culture medium. ... | 2007 | 17601636 |
| rapid and real-time detection of hepatitis a virus by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay. | a one-step, single tube, real-time reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (rt-lamp) assay was developed for detecting sequences of the untranslated region in the genome of hepatitis a virus (hav). the rt-lamp assay reported in this study was very simple and rapid; the hav-specific amplification was obtained in 50 min under isothermal conditions at 62.5 degrees c by employing a set of seven primers. the rnas of three cell-adapted hav strains belonging to different subgenotyp ... | 2007 | 17604128 |
| [hav infection in patients with chronic hepatitis c]. | in most cases, hepatitis a virus (hav) infection causes a self-limiting benign acute hepatitis which confers permanent acquired immunity. however, in patients with pre-existing chronic hepatitis, hav superinfection can cause acute hepatitis with severe progression leading to a fulminant form or linked to the risk of a rapid deterioration of hepatic function. for such a reason, some authors recommend anti-hav vaccination for subjects with hcv-correlated chronic hepatitis before the initiation of ... | 2007 | 17612281 |
| epidemiology of travel-associated and autochthonous hepatitis a in austrian children, 1998 to 2005. | in austria, being an area of low hepatitis a endemicity, every year, several cases of this infectious disease are reported. the aim of the present study was to provide data on disease and hospitalization of children below the age of 15 for imported and autochthonous hepatitis a in austria. | 2007 | 17617847 |
| hepatitis a vaccination coverage among children aged 24-35 months--united states, 2004-2005. | after the licensure of hepatitis a vaccine in 1995 for children aged > or =24 months, the advisory committee on immunization practices (acip) incrementally expanded the proportion of children for whom it recommended the vaccine. in 1996, acip recommended vaccinating children in communities that had high rates of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection, including american indian/alaska native (ai/an) communities and selected hispanic and religious communities. in 1999, acip extended the recommendation ... | 2007 | 17625495 |
| immunogenic epitopes on the surface of the hepatitis a virus capsid: impact of secondary structure and/or isoelectric point on chimeric virus assembly. | hepatitis a virus (hav) protein 2a has the capacity to harbor and expose a short foreign epitope. the chimeric virus, hav-gp41, bearing seven amino acids of the 2f5 epitope of the hiv glycoprotein gp41, was shown to replicate in cell culture and laboratory animals and to induce a humoral immune response. as an extension of this work, we now investigated the possibility to insert longer epitopes, their impact on genetic stability, and the production of chimeric hav. twenty-seven amino acid residu ... | 2007 | 17640757 |
| the underestimated risk of hepatitis a and hepatitis b: benefits of an accelerated vaccination schedule. | hepatitis a virus (hav) and hepatitis b virus (hbv) are vaccine-preventable. current recommendations advocate vaccination of non-immune adults at risk of exposure, including travelers to hav or hbv endemic areas, individuals with high risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, and some correctional facility inmates. we review the use of an accelerated schedule to administer the combination hepatitis a and hepatitis b vaccine (twinrix). administering three doses over three weeks and a ... | 2008 | 17643334 |
| impaired function of cd4+/cd25+ t regulatory lymphocytes characterizes the self-limited hepatitis a virus infection. | hepatitis a virus (hav) causes a transient illness leaving permanent protection against reinfection. few data are available on the regulatory mechanisms involved in the cd4+ t helper activation. we aimed to investigate the frequency and function of cd3+/cd4+/cd25+ t cells with regulatory function (tregs) during acute hav infection. | 2008 | 17645467 |
| molecular detection of hepatitis a virus in urban sewage in rio de janeiro, brazil. | a one-year survey was conducted to examine hepatitis a virus (hav) prevalence, distribution of genotypes and their relationship to bacterial indicators in raw and treated sewage samples. | 2007 | 17651213 |
| analysis of hepatitis a virus protein 2b in sera of hepatitis a of various severities. | in our recent study of the full-length hepatitis a virus (hav) genome from some patients with fulminant hepatitis and acute hepatitis, possible associations were suggested between the severity of hepatitis a and the amino acid substitutions in the nonstructural protein 2b. we therefore analyzed hav 2b from many patients with various clinical disease severities. | 2007 | 17653652 |
| rising hepatitis a immunity in u.s. military recruits. | the u.s. military immunizes new recruits against hepatitis a. since 2001, immunization with the hepatitis a vaccine has been recommended for civilian adolescents in higher risk areas. recently, the armed forces epidemiological board recommended serologic screening where feasible to reduce redundant recruit immunizations. | 2007 | 17691697 |
| concomitant administration of a virosome-adjuvanted hepatitis a vaccine with routine childhood vaccines at age twelve to fifteen months: a randomized controlled trial. | the objectives of this trial were to test for noninferiority of a virosomal hepatitis a virus (hav) vaccine (epaxal) coadministered with routine childhood vaccines compared with epaxal given alone and to an alum-adjuvanted hav vaccine (havrix junior) coadministered with routine childhood vaccines. | 2007 | 17721372 |
| poly(a) binding protein, c-terminally truncated by the hepatitis a virus proteinase 3c, inhibits viral translation. | proteolytic cleavage of translation initiation factors is a means to interfere with mrna circularization and to induce translation arrest during picornaviral replication or apoptosis. it was shown that the regulated cleavages of eukaryotic initiation factor (eif) 4g and poly(a)-binding protein (pabp) by viral proteinases correlated with early and late arrest of host cap-dependent and viral internal ribosome entry site (ires)-dependent translation, respectively. here we show that in contrast to c ... | 2007 | 17726047 |
| prevalence and correlates of hepatitis a among adult drug users: the significance of incarceration and race/ethnicity. | this report examines associations between hepatitis a virus (hav) infection prevalence and a history of incarceration in jail or a correctional facility among a population of drug users in baltimore stratified by african american and white racial/ethnic status. the study sample consisted of 509 non-injection and injection drug users recruited from inner-city neighborhoods of the baltimore metropolitan region. the baseline prevalence of hav infection was 36.9% (n=188). one-fourth (25.5%) of the s ... | 2007 | 17766016 |
| immunogenicity and safety of a pediatric dose of a virosome-adjuvanted hepatitis a vaccine: a controlled trial in children aged 1-16 years. | the availability of pediatric formulations of hepatitis a virus (hav) vaccines would facilitate the introduction of universal mass vaccination against hav. the objective of this study was to compare a pediatric dose (0.25 ml) of epaxal, a virosomal, aluminum-free hav vaccine, to 0.5 ml standard dose, and to alum-adsorbed hav vaccine. | 2007 | 17848882 |
| hepatitis a as an etiologic agent of acute liver failure in latin america. | this prospective, multicenter study examined the importance of hepatitis viruses as etiological agents of acute liver failure (alf) and the outcome of alf cases in latin american children and adolescents. | 2007 | 17848883 |
| epidemiological and virological characterization of a large community-wide outbreak of hepatitis a in southern italy. | a large outbreak of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection occurred in 2004 in campania, a region of southern italy, with 882 cases reported between 1 january and 1 august. the local public health authorities and the italian national institute of health carried out investigations in order to characterize the agent, identify the source of infection and the route of transmission, and implement appropriate control measures. a web-based reporting system enhanced the flow of information between public hea ... | 2008 | 17892633 |
| [comparison of recent igg anti-hav prevalence between two hospitals in seoul and gyeonggi area]. | recently, the incidence of acute hepatitis a has increased nationwide and is related to the low rate of igg anti-hav. this study compared the prevalence of igg anti-hav in two university hospitals located in a large city and in a small city including a rural region according to age, gender, and the year of diagnosis. | 2007 | 17898552 |
| evaluation of an extracting method for the detection of hepatitis a virus in shellfish by sybr-green real-time rt-pcr. | consumption of virus-contaminated shellfish has caused numerous outbreaks of gastroenteritis and hepatitis worldwide. in the present study, we evaluated a rapid and simple extraction method to concentrate and purify enteric viruses from shellfish tissues for their detection by real-time rt-pcr. this procedure consists of an alkaline elution with a glycine buffer, solids removal by slow speed centrifugation, purification by chloroform extraction and virus concentration by ultracentrifugation. the ... | 2007 | 17900731 |
| molecular characterization of an acute hepatitis a outbreak among healthcare workers at a korean hospital. | the seroprevalence of hepatitis a virus (hav) antibodies is low in young adults in korea. from may to july 2005, 17 cases of hav were reported from healthcare workers (hcws) in a hospital intensive care unit (icu). we looked for the presence of anti-hav igm from all patients in the medical-surgical icu with elevated aspartate aminotransferase (ast) and alanine aminotransferase (alt) and screened ast and alt levels in all hcws who came into contact with two suspected index cases. once the outbrea ... | 2007 | 17919777 |
| rapid and sensitive detection of hepatitis a virus in representative food matrices. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is an important cause of foodborne disease worldwide. the detection of this virus in naturally contaminated food products is complicated by the absence of a reliable culture method, low levels of contamination, and the presence of matrix-associated compounds which inhibit molecular detection. in this study, we report a novel method to concentrate hav from foods prior to the application of reverse transcription-pcr (rt-pcr) for detection. specifically, we used cationically ... | 2008 | 17931710 |
| increasing hepatitis a igg prevalence rate in men who have sex with men attending a sexual health clinic in london: implications for immunization policy. | the aims of this study were to audit an immunization policy to vaccinate men who have sex with men (msm) attending a large london sexual health clinic, and to undertake an approximate cost analysis of different strategies, using the estimated prevalence rate of anti-hepatitis a virus (hav) immunoglobulin g (igg). a retrospective study of the seroprevalence of anti-hav igg among msm was conducted for a 12-month period, involving 395 homosexual or bisexual men attending the genitourinary medicine ... | 2007 | 17945051 |
| hepatitis a vaccine versus immune globulin for postexposure prophylaxis. | hepatitis a vaccine administered to persons after exposure to the hepatitis a virus has not been compared directly with immune globulin, which is known to be highly effective in preventing hepatitis a when given within 2 weeks after exposure to the virus. | 2007 | 17947390 |
| another success for hepatitis a vaccine. | | 2007 | 17947391 |
| bayesian coalescent inference of hepatitis a virus populations: evolutionary rates and patterns. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is a hepatotropic member of the family picornaviridae. previous studies suggested that hav may evolve more slowly than other members of the family. to estimate hav substitution rates precisely, we used a bayesian markov chain monte carlo (mcmc) approach on temporally sampled hav vp1 full-length sequences from strains isolated in france. a mean rate of evolutionary change of 9.76 x 10(-4) nucleotide substitution per site per year was found. the results also revealed that t ... | 2007 | 17947528 |
| update: prevention of hepatitis a after exposure to hepatitis a virus and in international travelers. updated recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices (acip). | in 1995, highly effective inactivated hepatitis a vaccines were first licensed in the united states for preexposure prophylaxis against hepatitis a virus (hav) among persons aged > or =2 years. in 2005, vaccine manufacturers received food and drug administration approval for use of the vaccines in children aged 12-23 months. | 2007 | 17947967 |
| rna interaction and cleavage of poly(c)-binding protein 2 by hepatitis a virus protease. | the poly(rc)-binding protein pcbp2 has multiple functions in post-transcriptional control of host and viral gene expression. since it interacts with picornaviral rna structures, it was proposed that pcbp2 regulates viral genome translation and replication. the hepatitis a virus (hav), an atypical picornavirus, contains an unusual pyrimidine-rich tract (py1) with unknown functions. using in vivo and in vitro assays, we provide direct evidence that pcbp2 interacts with py1 and that binding is medi ... | 2007 | 17967440 |
| incidence of hav and hbv infections and vaccination rates in patients with autoimmune liver diseases. | hepatitis a virus (hav) or hepatitis b virus (hbv) superinfection is associated with an increased mortality in patients with chronic liver diseases (cld). despite official recommendations, it was reported that the vaccination rate against hav is low in patients with chronic hepatitis c infection. to evaluate the situation in patients with autoimmune liver diseases, we conducted a retrospective cohort study. | 2008 | 17970833 |
| implementation of a hepatitis a prevention policy in haemophiliacs: results from the french cohort. | in the early nineties, the occurrence of hepatitis a outbreaks in some patients with haemophilia in some countries led french health authorities to recommend hepatitis a virus (hav) vaccination in hav-seronegative haemophiliacs. the french 'suivi thérapeutique national des hémophiles' cohort permitted to assess the implementation of this recommendation by the analysis of the vaccinal process, i.e. hav seropositivity assessment and vaccination of hav-seronegative patients, in a survival approach. ... | 2007 | 17973847 |
| hepatitis a incidence and hospital-based seroprevalence in italy: a nation-wide study. | to define the pattern of hav infection in italy and to study the differences among geographic areas (northern, central and southern italy) and age-classes, we performed hav antibody testing on sera collected in 1996-1997 from a large sample of the italian population and compared the results with those of other seroprevalence studies and with incidence data for the period 1985-2005, calculated by a surveillance system specific for acute viral hepatitis based on symptomatic cases. a total of 3,561 ... | 2008 | 17978852 |
| immunogenicity, safety, and interchangeability of two inactivated hepatitis a vaccines in chilean children. | to compare the immunogenicity, safety, and interchangeability of two pediatric hepatitis a vaccines, avaxim 80u-pediatric and havrix 720, in chilean children. | 2008 | 17988917 |
| [is it necessary to investigate anti-hepatitis a virus (hav) igm antibodies when the hepatic enzymogram is normal?]. | is it necessary to investigate anti-hepatitis a virus (hav) igm antibodies when the hepatic enzymogram is normal? type a viral hepatitis (hav) is the most frequent viral hepatitis around the world, especially in low income countries. in order to confirm this disease, a lot of laboratory tests are annually carried out where hav is endemic. our objective was to establish the utility of investigating anti-hepatitis a virus (hav) igm antibodies for hav diagnosis in patients with normal levels of ser ... | 2007 | 17990376 |
| changing patterns of hepatitis a and e sero-prevalences in children after the 1999 earthquakes in duzce, turkey. | hepatitis a and e are enteric viral diseases that are characteristically found in developing countries. sero-epidemiological data about both infections showed higher prevalence rates soon after the 1999 earthquakes in duzce, turkey. the aim of the present study was to evaluate the data 4 years after the earthquakes. | 2008 | 17999670 |
| molecular characterization of hepatitis a virus in children with fulminant hepatic failure in argentina. | hepatitis a infection, a vaccine-preventable disease, is an important cause of fulminant hepatic failure (fhf) in children in argentina. universal vaccination in 1-year-old children was implemented in june 2005. the limited studies about the correlation between the characteristics of the hepatitis a virus (hav) and fhf have been carried out in adults. | 2008 | 18028318 |
| [duration of viral rna circulation in blood of patients with hepatitis a]. | duration of hepatitis a virus (hav) rna circulation in blood of patients with ha was assessed and compared with intensity of cytolytic syndrome. detection of viral rna was performed by rt-pcr method with specific primers to vp1/p2a region of hav genome. 54 blood serum samples from 40 patients were prospectively studied on the presence of hav rna. the latterwas detected in 53.7% of serum samples. the greatest number of positive results of hav rna detection in blood of the patients with ha was obt ... | 2007 | 18038542 |
| [real-time multiplex pcr for rapid detection of enteroviruses, adenoviruses and hepatitis a virus in clinical specimens]. | real-time multiplex polymerase chain reaction (pcr) with internal positive control (ipc) was developed for simultaneous detection of adenoviruses (av), enteroviruses (ev) and hepatitis a virus (hav). primes and probes labeled with different fluorophores (fam, r6g, rox, and cy5) and able to detect up to four viral rnas (dnas) with high specificity in a single tube in real-time pcr were designed. sensitivity and specificity of the method was estimated using cultural strains of 8 serotypes of ev, 5 ... | 2007 | 18038551 |
| anti-hepatitis a virus seroprevalence among patients with chronic viral liver disease in korea. | it is generally recommended that patients with chronic viral hepatitis should be vaccinated against hepatitis a virus (hav) infection. we intended to evaluate the prevalence of igg anti-hav according to age in patients chronically infected with hepatitis b virus or hepatitis c virus in korea. | 2007 | 18049159 |
| hepatitis a virus mutant spectra under the selective pressure of monoclonal antibodies: codon usage constraints limit capsid variability. | severe structural constraints in the hepatitis a virus (hav) capsid have been suggested as the reason for the lack of emergence of new serotypes in spite of the occurrence of complex distributions of mutants or quasispecies. analysis of the hav mutant spectra under immune pressure by the monoclonal antibodies (mabs) k34c8 (immunodominant site) and h7c27 (glycophorin binding site) has revealed different evolutionary dynamics. populations composed of complex ensembles of mutants with very low fitn ... | 2008 | 18057242 |
| prevalence of hepatitis a virus risk factors in a very low endemic country, switzerland. | we aimed to estimate the population-based lifetime exposure to guidelines-based hepatitis a virus (hav) risk factors in a country model with very low hav endemicity. a cross-sectional survey among randomly selected residents of switzerland aged 20-60 years was performed assessing the hav exposure risk according to the u.s. and the swiss guidelines. the adjusted prevalence of lifetime exposure to hav-associated risk exceeded 80% with travel being the most important risk factor. in addition, not o ... | 2007 | 18061318 |
| hepatitis a seroprevalence and its relationship with environmental factors in children of different age groups in kahramanmaras, eastern mediterranean region of turkey. | hepatitis a infections are influenced by environmental and socioeconomic factors. epidemiologic studies regarding hepatitis a virus (hav) infection in turkey have not previously examined these factors. we investigated hav seroprevalence and its association with sociodemographic factors among children of various ages in the eastern mediterranean region of turkey. the study included 1142 children (603 male and 539 female) between ages of 6 months and 18 years. seropositivity in the whole group was ... | 2007 | 18070285 |
| exploration of cost effectiveness of active vaccination in the control of a school outbreak of hepatitis a in a deprived community in the united kingdom. | in january 2006, an outbreak of hepatitis a occurred in a socio-economically deprived area of liverpool, in the united kingdom (uk), where extensive community outbreaks of hepatitis had previously occurred. a total of nine cases were confirmed. five of these were linked within a primary school. the outbreak initially occurred among a close social contact group, but there was evidence of subsequent person-to-person transmission within a local primary school. the school was attended by 221 pupils ... | 2007 | 18076861 |
| the picornavirus avian encephalomyelitis virus possesses a hepatitis c virus-like internal ribosome entry site element. | avian encephalomyelitis virus (aev) is a picornavirus that causes disease in poultry worldwide, and flocks must be vaccinated for protection. aev is currently classified within the hepatovirus genus, since its proteins are most closely related to those of hepatitis a virus (hav). we now provide evidence that the 494-nucleotide-long 5' untranslated region of the aev genome contains an internal ribosome entry site (ires) element that functions efficiently in vitro and in mammalian cells. unlike th ... | 2008 | 18077729 |
| safety procedures of coagulation factors. | two main types of safety procedures must be applied to biological products, including plasma derivatives: (i) preventive procedures and (ii) elimination procedures. prevention includes epidemiological control of donor populations; checks on each donor's health condition; analysis of each donation for the main pathogens using serological methods; additional analysis of all plasma for human immunodeficiency virus (hiv), hepatitis b virus (hbv), hepatitis c virus (hcv), hepatitis a virus (hav) and ... | 2007 | 18078396 |
| [acute hemolysis and renal failure caused by hepatitis a infection with underlying glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency]. | although glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (g6pd) deficiency is the most common enzyme disorder worldwide, it has rarely been reported among korean. the patient was previously healthy 39 yr old male who showed severe hemolytic anemia and acute renal failure accompanied by hyperbilirubinemia after hepatitis a infection. the additional studies for differential diagnosis of hemolytic anemia showed a moderate deficiency of g6pd enzyme. because hepatitis a infection in patient with g6pd deficiency pr ... | 2007 | 18094574 |
| foodborne spread of hepatitis a: recent studies on virus survival, transfer and inactivation. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is responsible for considerable morbidity and economic losses worldwide, and is the only reportable, foodborne viral pathogen in canada. outbreaks caused by it occur more frequently in settings such as hospitals, daycare centres, schools, and in association with foods and food service establishments. in recent years, the incidence of hepatitis a has increased in canada. many factors, including changing lifestyles and demographics, faster and more frequent travel, and enha ... | 2000 | 18159284 |
| the prevalence of hepatitis a in children in british columbia. | the risk of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection during childhood is difficult to estimate without population serosurveys because hav-related symptoms are often mild at this age. few serosurveys have been conducted in canada. the present study surveyed teenagers in two nonurban regions of british columbia where the historical rate of reported hav either exceeded (region a) or was less than (region b) the historical provincial rate. | 2005 | 18159540 |
| comparison between serum and saliva for the detection of hepatitis a virus rna. | due to the ease of collection, oral fluid is being investigated as an alternative to serum for diagnostic and epidemiological purposes. however, for prospective studies involving hepatitis a virus (hav) rna detection, a standard methodology must be developed. in the present study, nested rt-pcr and real-time pcr were optimized and evaluated for hav detection and quantification, using oral fluid from healthy volunteers (n=20) and paired serum/oral fluid samples from individuals involved in a hepa ... | 2008 | 18160140 |
| a new liquid intravenous immunoglobulin with three dedicated virus reduction steps: virus and prion reduction capacity. | a new 10% liquid human intravenous immunoglobulin (us trade name: gammagard liquid; european trade name: kiovig) manufactured by a process with three dedicated pathogen inactivation/removal steps (solvent/detergent treatment, 35-nm nanofiltration and low ph/elevated temperature incubation) was developed. the ability of the manufacturing process to inactivate/remove viruses and prions was investigated. | 2008 | 18167162 |
| [investigation of herpes group and hepatitis a virus nucleic acids in the atherome plaque samples of patients with coronary arterial disease]. | it is assumed that various infectious agents play direct or indirect roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis which is accepted as a chronic inflammatory phenomenon. however, the data obtained from different studies are contradictory. the aim of this study was to investigate the roles of herpes virus group [herpes simplex virus (hsv), epstein-barr virus (ebv), cytomegalovirus (cmv)] and hepatitis a virus (hav) which are debated in terms of their impact in the pathogenesis of coronary arteria ... | 2007 | 18173072 |
| anti-hav activity of some newly synthesized triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazines. | 6-phenyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazine-3(2h)-thione 2 was used as precursor for the preparation of some novel 3-s-substituted-6-phenyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazine derivatives 3-11. furthermore, the preparation of 1-[2-(6-phenyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazin-3-ylsulfanyl)-acetyl]-1h-pyrazole derivative 13 and 5-(6-phenyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazin-3-ylsulfanylmethyl)-[1,3,4]oxadiazole derivatives 15 and 17, are described. some of the prepared products revealed a promising antiviral ... | 2008 | 18214848 |
| [the molecular epidemiology of hepatitis a in the netherlands; the usefulness of typing isolated viral strains]. | to investigate the epidemiological links between several outbreaks of hepatitis a in the netherlands (2001-2004). | 2007 | 18232198 |
| hepatitis a vaccine versus immune globulin for postexposure prophylaxis. | | 2008 | 18234760 |
| hepatitis a vaccine versus immune globulin for postexposure prophylaxis. | | 2008 | 18240428 |
| detection of hepatitis a virus by using a combined cell culture-molecular beacon assay. | rapid and efficient methods for the detection and quantification of infectious viruses are required for public health risk assessment. current methods to detect infectious viruses are based on mammalian cell culture and rely on the production of visible cytopathic effects (cpe). for hepatitis a virus (hav), viral replication in cell culture has been reported to be nonlytic and relatively slow. it may take more than 1 week to reach the maximum production and subsequent visualization of cpe. a mol ... | 2008 | 18263747 |
| seroprevalence of hepatitis a in thai army medical cadets and nursing students: a reflection of regional risk differences. | a cross-sectional study of 432 army college students comprising 278 medical cadets and 154 nursing students, ages ranging from 15 to 26 years, was conducted in 2001 to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis a virus (hav) antibody. serum specimens were tested for hav antibody by a commercial enzyme immunoassay method. anti-hav was detected in 14.0%, 17.5%, and 15.3% of medical cadets, nursing students, and the total cohort, respectively. there was no statistically significant difference in ser ... | 2007 | 18274028 |
| prevalence of human pathogenic enteric viruses in bivalve molluscan shellfish and cultured shrimp in south west coast of india. | the prevalence of human enteric viruses in bivalve molluscan shellfish and shrimp collected off the south west coast of india was studied to assess the extent of fecal pollution of coastal environment. out of 194 samples analyzed, 37% of oyster, 46% of clam and 15% of shrimp samples were positive for enteroviruses (ev). adenoviruses (adv) were detected in 17% of oyster and 27% of clam samples. however, other enteric viruses such as noroviruses (nov) and hepatitis a virus (hav) were not detected ... | 2008 | 18279989 |
| la autoantigen suppresses ires-dependent translation of the hepatitis a virus. | the human rna-binding protein la, is an essential trans-acting factor in ires-dependent translation initiation of poliovirus, the prototypic picornavirus. for hepatitis a virus (hav), an unusual member of this virus family, the role of host proteins in its inefficient translation and slow replication is unclear. using small interfering rna in vivo and purified la in vitro, we demonstrate for the first time that la suppresses hav ires-mediated translation and replication. we show that la binds sp ... | 2008 | 18282467 |
| prevalence of hepatitis a igg in individuals with chronic hepatitis b infection in babol. | to determine the prevalence of previous hepatitis a virus (hav) infection in people chronically infected with hepatitis b virus (hbv), we assessed the prevalence of anti-hav igg in 392 patients. the study was carried out in babol, northern islamic republic of iran from september 2004 to march 2005. prevalence in those aged 10-19 years was 59.4% and was significantly lower than that in those aged 20-29 years (89.8%) and those over 29 years (97.5%). there was no significant difference in prevalenc ... | 2007 | 18290404 |
| autochthonous hepatitis e in southwest england: a comparison with hepatitis a. | the incidence of hepatitis a is falling. in contrast, autochthonous hepatitis e is an emerging infection in developed countries. the objective of this study was to compare both laboratory-confirmed cases of hepatitis a and autochthonous hepatitis e over a 2-year period in cornwall and devon and anti-hepatitis a virus (hav) igg and anti-hepatitis e virus (hev) igg seroprevalence in blood donors. the databases of microbiology laboratories in cornwall and devon were searched for the number of diagn ... | 2008 | 18299907 |
| basic mathematical models for the temporal dynamics of hav in medium-endemicity italian areas. | in some southern italy areas hepatitis a still represents a serious public health issue. in 1996 a big epidemics in puglia led that region to adopt a mass vaccination programme. in this paper a basic mathematical model for the temporal trends of hepatitis a virus (hav) in southern italy is proposed and investigated. the model includes the main distinctive features of hav in southern italy, i.e. multiplicity of exposure factors, and periodic forcing caused by yearly patterns of seafood consumptio ... | 2008 | 18314231 |
| etiology of hemolysis in two patients with hepatitis a infection: glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency or autoimmune hemolytic anemia. | we report two children with hemolytic anemia during the course of hepatitis a infection. on admission, the patients had high blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and uric acid levels, as well as anemia, leucocytosis, and direct and indirect hyperbilirubinemia. both patients had a glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (g6pd) and autoimmune antibodies. they were given vitamin k on admission. inadvertent administration of vitamin k could have been related to an acute reduction in hemoglobin conc ... | 2008 | 18320220 |
| hepatitis a vaccine versus immunoglobulin for post-exposure prophylaxis. | | 2007 | 18335798 |
| markers for hepatitis a, b and c in methadone maintained patients: an unexpectedly high co-infection with silent hepatitis b. | to determine the prevalence of hepatitis a, b and c viruses in patients attending a methadone maintenance clinic in new york city. | 2008 | 18339114 |
| seroprevalence of hepatitis a among children of different socioeconomic status in cairo. | to determine seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis a virus (hav) antibodies and potential risk factors for and age of contracting symptomatic hepatitis a infection among children of different socioeconomic status (ses) in cairo, we carried out a cross-sectional study on 426 children aged 3-18 years from low ses areas and 142 from high ses areas. seroprevalence was significantly higher with age. seropositivity to anti-hav antibodies was significantly higher among children of low and very low ses, 90%, ... | 2007 | 18341176 |
| molecular characterisation of the hepatitis a virus circulating in the 2001-2005 outbreaks in thailand. | in a recent study of hepatitis a virus (hav) in thailand, viral isolates recovered during several outbreaks of infection that occurred between 2001 and 2005 were genotyped and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. anti-hav igm was detected, by elisa, in many of the 283 serum samples that were collected from the provinces of suphanburi, songkhla, chiangrai and lampang: 40 (48.2% of those investigated), 38 (47.5%), 25 (41.0%) and 32 (54.2%), respectively. the hav rna in the positive samples was reve ... | 2008 | 18348779 |
| surveillance for acute viral hepatitis--united states, 2006. | in the united states, acute viral hepatitis most frequently is caused by infection with three viruses: hepatitis a virus (hav), hepatitis b virus (hbv), and hepatitis c virus (hcv). these unrelated viruses are transmitted through different routes and have different epidemiologic profiles. safe and effective vaccines have been available for hepatitis b since 1981 and for hepatitis a since 1995. no vaccine exists against hepatitis c. | 2008 | 18354374 |
| rapid detection of human parechoviruses in clinical samples by real-time pcr. | human parechoviruses (hpevs) have been associated with severe conditions such as neonatal sepsis and meningitis in young children. rapid identification of an infectious agent in such serious conditions in these patients is essential for adequate decision making regarding treatment and hospital stay. | 2008 | 18354819 |
| genetic analysis of hav strains isolated from patients with acute hepatitis in korea, 2005-2006. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is a causative agent of acute viral hepatitis, which represents a significant public health problem. hav is usually transmitted by oral-fecal route and prevalent not only in developing countries but also in developed countries worldwide. to characterize the hav wild type strains circulating in korea, the vp3/vp1 and vp1/p2a junction regions were detected by rt-pcr from hav igm positives during 2005 and 2006. among 160 hav igm positive sera, 30% (n = 48) were positive for ... | 2008 | 18360890 |
| [the molecular epidemiology of hepatitis a in the netherlands; the usefulness of typing isolated viral strains]. | | 2008 | 18380392 |
| antibody response to hepatitis a immunization among human immunodeficiency virus-infected children and adolescents. | seventy-one of 84 human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)-infected children [84.5% (95% confidence interval: 75-91.5%)] were hepatitis a virus (hav) seropositive after 2 doses of hav vaccine. higher cd4% and hiv suppression were significantly associated with increased hav seropositivity rate. in multivariate analysis, cd4 >or=25% and young age were independent predictors of hav seropositivity. of 7 children given a third hav vaccine dose because of negative hav antibody after 2 doses, 2 (29%) became ... | 2008 | 18382387 |
| immunogenicity and safety of three consecutive lots of a new preservative-free inactivated hepatitis a vaccine (healive): a double-blind, randomized and controlled trial. | immunization is considered as the most effective way for the prophylaxis of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection. this study aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of three consecutive lots of a new preservative-free inactivated hepatitis a vaccine (healive) in healthy children. a double-blind, randomized and controlled clinical trial was conducted in healthy volunteers aged from 1 to 8 years. total 400 subjects were enrolled and assigned into four groups, receiving one of the three lots o ... | 2008 | 18395305 |
| synthesis and antiviral evaluation of novel 5-(n-aryl-aminomethyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)hydrazines and their sugars, 1,2,4-triazoles, tetrazoles and pyrazolyl derivatives. | a number of new n-arylaminomethyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives 2, 3a,b, and 9-12a,b were prepared. sugar (5-n-arylaminomethyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl) hydrazones 4-6a,b were synthesized by the reaction of the hydrazino derivatives 3a,b with the corresponding monosaccharides. the novel acyclo-c-nucleosides 7, 8a,b were prepared by heterocyclization of the sugar hydrazones 4, 5a,b with acetic anhydride. a number of the synthesized compounds were tested for their antiviral activity against herpes simp ... | 2008 | 18404774 |
| heteroaromatic ester inhibitors of hepatitis a virus 3c proteinase: evaluation of mode of action. | the related 3c and 3c-like proteinase (3c(pro) and 3cl(pro)) of picornaviruses and coronaviruses, respectively, are good drug targets. as part of an effort to generate broad-spectrum inhibitors of these enzymes, we screened a library of inhibitors based on a halopyridinyl ester from a previous study of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) 3cl proteinase against hepatitis a virus (hav) 3c(pro). three of the compounds, which also had furan rings, inhibited the cleavage activity of hav 3c(p ... | 2008 | 18407505 |
| hepatitis a: the vaccine dividend. | | 2008 | 18422432 |
| hepatitis a in korea: epidemiological shift and call for vaccine strategy. | the number of adult hepatitis a cases has progressively been increasing during the last several years in korea. the aim of the present study was to describe the recent clinical features of hepatitis a and the seroprevalence of hepatitis a virus (hav), and to discuss hav vaccine strategy in korea. | 2008 | 18434743 |
| efficient neutralizing activity of cocktailed recombinant human antibodies against hepatitis a virus infection in vitro and in vivo. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is the major pathogen responsible for acute infectious hepatitis a, a disease that is prevalent worldwide. although hav immunization effectively prevents infection, primary immunizations must be administered at least 2 weeks prior to hav exposure. in contrast, passive immunization with pooled human immunoglobulin (ig) can provide immediate and rapid protection from hav infection. because the use of human sera-derived igs carries the risk of contamination, we sought to dev ... | 2008 | 18461629 |
| outbreaks of hepatitis a in england and wales associated with two co-circulating hepatitis a virus strains. | during 2002, an upsurge in frequency of hepatitis a outbreaks among injecting drug users was observed in england and wales. as lack of risk factor information and the high mobility of the cases made linkage of outbreaks difficult, the relationship of nucleotide sequences in the vp1/2pa junction of the hepatitis a virus (hav) genome amplified from serum of case-patients was investigated. a total of 204 hav rna positive sera obtained from a network of 23 laboratories were studied. comparison of th ... | 2008 | 18461630 |
| estimating the pathogen safety of manufactured human plasma products: application to fibrin sealants and to thrombin. | plasma fractionators have implemented many improvements over the past decade directed toward reducing the likelihood of pathogen transmission by purified blood products, yet little has been published attempting to assess the overall impact of these improvements on the probability of safety of the final product. | 2008 | 18466171 |
| changes in hepatitis a virus seroepidemiology in hiv-infected brazilian patients. | shifting of hepatitis a virus (hav) epidemiology from a high towards an intermediate endemicity pattern and use of antiretroviral therapy increased the risk of hiv/hav coinfection in developing countries. the aim of this study was to investigate the presence of hav markers in a cohort of hiv-infected patients from 1988 to 2004. the presence of serum anti-hav antibodies and hav-rna by real-time polymerase chain reaction was investigated in 581 patients. total anti-hav antibodies was found in 464/ ... | 2008 | 18482962 |
| age-specific seroprevalence of hepatitis a in antananarivo (madagascar). | hepatitis a virus (hav) is an enteric, viral, infectious disease endemic in many developing countries such as madagascar. infection is often subclinical or asymptomatic in children; however, symptomatic acute infections become more common with increasing age. in some developing countries, improvements in living conditions have led to changes in the epidemiological pattern of hav infection. there are very few reports on the prevalence of hav in madagascar. this study was to determine the seroprev ... | 2008 | 18538023 |
| chlorine disinfection of produce to inactivate hepatitis a virus and coliphage ms2. | disinfection of produce is principally used to inactivate spoilage microbes and may also reduce the risk of consumer exposure to enteric pathogens. however, the rate and extent of enteric virus inactivation by free chlorine on produce has not been adequately characterized. experiments were performed to determine the kinetics of free chlorine inactivation of hepatitis a virus (hav) and the indicator virus coliphage ms2 on strawberries (sbs), cherry tomatoes (cts), and head lettuce (hl). the oxida ... | 2008 | 18547665 |
| effects of sanitation, freezing and frozen storage on enteric viruses in berries and herbs. | norovirus (nv) and hepatitis a virus (hav) are foodborne enteric viruses associated with outbreaks of disease following consumption of fresh or frozen produce. model experiments were performed to determine the effectiveness of certain commercial processes for the removal of enteric viruses that might be present in berries and herbs. the survival and persistence of hav, nv, rotavirus (rv) and feline calicivirus (fcv), a surrogate for nv, in frozen produce over time were determined. survival and i ... | 2008 | 18547667 |