| detection of hepatitis a viral rna in sera of patients with acute hepatitis a. | the detection of hepatitis a virus (hav) is important for diagnosis and epidemiological studies of hepatitis a. the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) technique is a sensitive test to detect hav-rna in specimens. the aims of the present study were to clarify the detection rate of serum hav-rna by pcr and the natural history of hav viraemia, and to determine the correlation between viraemia and the clinical characteristics in patients with acute hepatitis a. | 2000 | 11059935 |
| the possible role of hepatitis a virus in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. | the possible association between hepatitis a virus (hav) infection and coronary artery disease (cad) was studied. blood from 391 patients undergoing coronary angiography was tested for serum igg antibodies to hav and c-reactive protein (crp). of the 391 patients, 205 (52%) had anti-hav igg antibodies. cad prevalence was 74% in hav-seropositive and 52% in hav-seronegative patients (p<.0001); significance persisted after adjustment for either traditional cad risk factors or for risk factors plus o ... | 2000 | 11069227 |
| screening travelers for hepatitis a antibodies: an observational cost-comparison study of vaccine use. | to measure the seroprevalence of antibodies to hepatitis a virus (anti-hav) in a health plan population of travelers and to determine whether prevaccination screening for anti-hav can reduce unnecessary vaccination and thus promote the most effective, economic use of hepatitis a vaccine. | 2000 | 11069868 |
| screening international travelers for hepatitis a antibodies versus routine vaccination: how generalizable are the results? | | 2000 | 11069869 |
| hepatitis a virus-specific immunoglobulin a mediates infection of hepatocytes with hepatitis a virus via the asialoglycoprotein receptor. | the mechanisms underlying the hepatotropism of hepatitis a virus (hav) and the relapsing courses of hav infections are unknown. in this report, we show for a mouse hepatocyte model that hav-specific immunoglobulin a (iga) mediates infection of hepatocytes with hav via the asialoglycoprotein receptor, which binds and internalizes iga molecules. proof of hav infection was obtained by detection of hav minus-strand rna, which is indicative for virus replication, and quantification of infectious viri ... | 2000 | 11069989 |
| prevalence of hepatitis a virus antibodies in patients with chronic liver diseases. | the age of persons with hepatitis a virus (hav) infection in the general population has risen; these persons are at increased risk of clinically severe disease, especially patients with chronic liver disease. the aim of the present study was to analyze the prevalence of total antibodies against hav in patients with chronic liver disease. | 2000 | 11084818 |
| asian perspectives on viral hepatitis a. | recent decades have witnessed a marked decline in the prevalence of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection in asian populations, especially in children. this is attributable to general improvements in socio-economic status and hygiene, which have, in turn, made a large population of young adults susceptible to the disease. the hav infection rarely results in death and mortality is age-dependent. according to previous reports, it may be more severe in persons with underlying chronic liver disease (cld ... | 2000 | 11101002 |
| prevalence of hepatitis a virus infection in sewage plant workers of central italy: is indication for vaccination justified? | prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis a virus (hav) was studied in a group of 65 sewage plant workers living in tuscany, central italy. in order to evaluate the effect of several confounders (age, place of birth, income, educational degree, sea-food consumption, etc.), subjects under study were matched with 160 other workers residing in the same area. anti-hav was detected in about 51% of sewage workers and 44% of other employees. the difference was not statistically significant. both univariate ... | 2000 | 11115708 |
| assessment of synthetic peptides for hepatitis a diagnosis using biosensor technology. | in the present work we demonstrate the application of a commercial biosensor instrument (biacore 1000, biacore ab, uppsala) for the detection of antibodies against the hepatitis a virus (hav) in human serum samples using linear and branched synthetic peptides related to the vp3 capsid protein of hav. we also studied the conformation of the synthetic peptides by circular dichroism (cd) in order to analyse the changes in secondary structure of the constructs that could influence their recognition ... | 2000 | 11121543 |
| detection methods for human enteric viruses in representative foods. | although viral foodborne disease is a significant problem, foods are rarely tested for viral contamination, and when done, testing is limited to shellfish commodities. in this work, we report a method to extract and detect human enteric viruses from alternative food commodities using an elution-concentration approach followed by detection using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr). fifty-gram lettuce or hamburger samples were artificially inoculated with poliovirus type 1 (pv ... | 2000 | 11131900 |
| neutralization of hepatitis a virus (hav) by an immunoadhesin containing the cysteine-rich region of hav cellular receptor-1. | hepatitis a virus (hav) infects african green monkey kidney (agmk) cells via the hav cellular receptor-1 (havcr-1), a mucin-like type 1 integral-membrane glycoprotein of unknown natural function. the ectodomain of havcr-1 contains an n-terminal immunoglobulin-like cysteine-rich region (d1), which binds protective monoclonal antibody (mab) 190/4, followed by an o-glycosylated mucin-like threonine-serine-proline-rich region that extends d1 well above the cell surface. to study the interaction of h ... | 2001 | 11134285 |
| prospective study of pathogen burden and risk of myocardial infarction or death. | we previously demonstrated that the risk of coronary artery disease (cad) increased in relation to the number of pathogens (the "pathogen burden") in a cross-sectional study. in the present prospective study with a different patient cohort, we evaluated the effect of pathogen burden on the risk of myocardial infarction (mi) or death among cad patients. | 2001 | 11136684 |
| hepatitis a vaccine. | inactivated hepatitis a vaccines are highly immunogenic and efficacious. because of their high disease rates and importance as a reservoir of transmission to others, children should be the primary focus of vaccination. a long-term strategy of sustained routine vaccination of children living in areas with consistently elevated hepatitis a rates has been adopted. ultimately, elimination of hav transmission will require vaccination of all children in the us. this effort would be facilitated by the ... | 2000 | 11144382 |
| hepatitis a: old and new. | the hepatitis a virus (hav), a picornavirus, is a common cause of hepatitis worldwide. spread of infection is generally person to person or by oral intake after fecal contamination of skin or mucous membranes; less commonly, there is fecal contamination of food or water. hepatitis a is endemic in developing countries, and most residents are exposed in childhood. in contrast, the adult population in developed countries demonstrates falling rates of exposure with improvements in hygiene and sanita ... | 2001 | 11148002 |
| characterization of recombinant hepatitis a virus genomes containing exogenous sequences at the 2a/2b junction. | hepatitis a virus (hav) differs from other members of the family picornaviridae in that the cleavage of the polyprotein at the 2a/2b junction, commonly considered to be the primary polyprotein cleavage by analogy with other picornaviruses, is mediated by 3c(pro), the only proteinase encoded by the virus. however, it has never been formally demonstrated that the 2a/2b junction is the site of primary cleavage, and the actual function of the 2a sequence, which lacks homology with sequence of other ... | 2001 | 11152515 |
| viral hepatitis during pregnancy. | a great degree of controversy prevails over the existing reports on the severity and outcome of acute viral hepatitis (avh) during pregnancy. the present study describes the outcome of avh associated with pregnancy. a correlation was also assessed for gestation period, viral etiology and outcome of avh. | 2001 | 11166742 |
| suppression of hepatitis b virus replication mediated by hepatitis a-induced cytokine production. | acute hepatitis a virus (hav) infection can cause severe hepatitis especially in patients with underlying chronic liver disease. in patients with pre-existing chronic hepatitis b (hbv) acute hav infection can suppress hbv replication. the exact mechanism of hbv suppression during acute hav infection is still a subject of debate. one mechanism may be the production of hav infection-induced cytokines leading to suppression of hbv replication and viral clearance. | 2001 | 11169072 |
| molecular epidemiology of hepatitis a virus in amsterdam, the netherlands. | the transmission of sporadic community-acquired hepatitis a virus (hav) among different risk groups in amsterdam was verified by applying molecular techniques on fecal samples. these were collected in 1997/1998 from 33 persons with hav infection that was confirmed serologically. from 8 of these persons serial stool samples were collected. nested rt-pcr targeting the vp3-vp1 and vp1-p2a regions followed by sequence analysis established the duration of fecal hav rna excretion in stool and the epid ... | 2001 | 11170043 |
| adaptation of primate cell-adapted hepatitis a virus strain hm175 to growth in guinea pig cells is independent of mutations in the 5' nontranslated region. | previous studies of hepatitis a virus (hav) genotypes after adaptation of wild-type virus to growth in cell cultures of primate origin identified determinants for growth in cell culture in the viral 2b and 2c protein-coding regions of the genome and demonstrated that an increased growth efficiency in a particular cell line was achieved by subsequent mutations in the 5' nontranslated region (5'ntr). the results reported in this study demonstrate that the passage of hav adapted to primate bs-c-1 c ... | 2001 | 11172101 |
| the cost-saving potential of prevaccination antibody tests when implementing a mass immunization program. | a seroprevalence study of hepatitis a virus (hav), hepatitis b virus (hbv), and varicella-zoster virus (vzv) was carried out among saudi arabian national guard soldiers with the objective of determining the cost-saving potential of prevaccination antibody tests when implementing an immunization program for the soldiers. a systematic sampling of 450 blood samples from 1,350 soldiers who donated blood at our hospital was carried out. antibody tests were performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorb ... | 2001 | 11197089 |
| a serological re-evaluation of acute non-a non-b hepatitis from the early 1970s. | the epidemiology and natural history of recently discovered viruses, which may be responsible for cases of seronegative infectious hepatitis, are currently being investigated. retrospective studies of stored sera can provide a historical perspective of these infections. | 2000 | 11198574 |
| predictors of liver-related complications in patients with chronic hepatitis c. | chronic hepatitis c is the leading cause of decompensated liver disease requiring liver transplantation and a major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc). in liver clinic series, about 20% of those chronically infected with hepatitis c virus (hcv) develop cirrhosis over 20 years. from epidemiological data, however, it is clear that certain subgroups of patients are more likely to develop liver-related complications than others. both host and viral factors have been implicated in individual sus ... | 2000 | 11209965 |
| biophysical validation of epaxal berna, a hepatitis a vaccine adjuvanted with immunopotentiating reconstituted influenza virosomes (iriv). | inactivated vaccines usually contain an adjuvant which potentiates the immune response to the antigen. during the last 70 years aluminium salts have been the only adjuvant licensed for human use. the adjuvanting activity is based on their serving as an antigen depot and inducing a localized inflammatory response. our efforts to develop a potent and well tolerated adjuvant has focussed on the use of immunopotentiating reconstituted influenza virosomes (iriv). the iriv base is a liposome with a me ... | 2000 | 11214236 |
| [assessment of the pcr-southern blot technique for the analysis of viremia in patients with acute hepatitis a]. | assessment of viremia in hepatitis a virus (hav) infection is not frequently performed with conventional methods because the techniques used are laborious, have low sensitivity are usually performed in feces. the aims of this study were to develop a polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and southern blot technique to detect hav-rna in the serum of patients with acute hav infection and to determine the relationship between hav-rna and anti-hav igm and alanine aminotransferase (alt) levels. the presence ... | 2001 | 11219133 |
| infection with hepatitis a and tt viruses and socioeconomic status in rio de janeiro, brazil. | the prevalence of antibodies directed against the enterically transmitted hepatitis a virus (hav) was measured in 2 groups of people living in rio de janeiro, brazil. of 1,056 health care workers (hcws), 778 (73.7%) were anti-hav positive. a high prevalence of anti-hav antibodies (85.7%) was also found among 274 voluntary blood donors (bds). tt virus (ttv) is a dna virus that has been found in the sera of patients with post-transfusion hepatitis of unknown etiology. occurrence of virus shedding ... | 2001 | 11233846 |
| rapid decline of antibodies after hepatitis a immunization in liver and renal transplant recipients. | hepatitis a vaccine is safe and achieves good seroconversion rates in liver (ltx) and renal (rtx) transplant recipients. | 2001 | 11233913 |
| infection of hepatitis a virus in japanese haemophiliacs. | outbreaks of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection in haemophiliacs have been reported from many countries. the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis a virus antibody (havab) in japanese haemophiliacs. | 2001 | 11243755 |
| fecal shedding of hepatitis a virus in indian patients with hepatitis a and in experimentally infected rhesus monkey. | hepatitis a is highly endemic in india. the surveillance reports for the disease from this region are primarily based on the demonstration of hepatitis a virus (hav) specific serum igm and igg antibodies. the present study was conducted to assess the presence and duration of fecal shedding of hav in patients with hepatitis a and in an experimentally infected rhesus monkey. nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) was applied to fecal specimens from 67 sporadic cases of hep ... | 2001 | 11251306 |
| combining hepatitis a and b vaccination in children and adolescents. | hepatitis a and b are common infections worldwide and their severity is related to the individual's age upon initial infection. furthermore, when hepatitis b infection occurs in infants, the risk of becoming a chronic carrier is 90%. for hepatitis a, the lower incidence of disease arising from an improvement in living conditions leaves a greater number of children, adolescents and young adults susceptible to residual circulating virus. consequently, initial infection occurs later in life when cl ... | 2001 | 11257370 |
| pcr-sscp analysis of 5'-nontranslated region of hepatitis a viral rna: comparison with clinicopathological features of hepatitis a. | the recent development of the sensitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) method allowed us to detect the presence of hepatitis a virus (hav) rna in sera from hepatitis a patients. to determine whether differences in hav are related to the wide range of clinical severity, we used pcr-single strand conformation polymorphism (sscp) to analyze the amplified product of the 5'-nontranslated region (5'ntr), where relatively homologous sequences are reported and the internal ribo ... | 2000 | 11258569 |
| icc/pcr detection of enteroviruses and hepatitis a virus in environmental samples. | this study applied the integrated cell culture/polymerase chain reaction methodology (icc/pcr) for rapid and specific detection of both cytopathogenic and noncytopathogenic viruses. results of this study showed that the use of direct rt-pcr or conventional cell culture alone may yield erroneous results with the analysis of environmental samples. the purpose of this study was to compare cultural, molecular, and combined assays for the most effective method of virus detection in variable environme ... | 2001 | 11261495 |
| an outbreak of hepatitis a associated with green onions. | forty-three cases of serologically confirmed hepatitis a occurred among individuals who ate at restaurant a in ohio in 1998. serum samples from all restaurant a employees who worked during the exposure period were negative for igm antibodies to hepatitis a virus (hav). a matched case-control study determined that foods containing green onions, which were eaten by 38 (95%) of 40 case patients compared with 30 (50%) of 60 control subjects, were associated with illness (matched odds ratio, 12.7; 95 ... | 2001 | 11262211 |
| serological and molecular testing in viral hepatitis: an update. | the routine serological diagnoses of the three major forms of viral hepatitis - a, b and c - as well as delta hepatitis, are important in the evaluation of acute and chronic viral hepatitis. increasingly, molecular virology is also being used to evaluate patients with chronic hepatitis c, with genotype and viral load testing to plan therapy. | 2001 | 11264571 |
| prevalence of hepatitis a virus and hepatitis b virus immunity in patients with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed hepatitis c: implications for vaccination strategy. | administration of vaccine for hepatitis a virus (hav) and hepatitis b virus (hbv) is recommended for patients with chronic hepatitis c (chc) because of the potential for increased severity of acute hepatitis superimposed on existing liver disease. the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of antibodies directed against hav and hbv in patients with chc, analyze demographic and risk factors associated with this prevalence, and develop a cost-effective vaccination strategy. | 2001 | 11280565 |
| duplex rt-pcr for simultaneous detection of hepatitis a and hepatitis e virus isolated from drinking water samples. | a duplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) protocol for simultaneous detection of hepatitis a virus (hav) and hepatitis e virus (hev) in water samples has been developed and demonstrated. both hav and hev were concentrated from drinking water samples through a one-step concentration protocol. different cdna could be produced in the rt step carried out with a random primer in a single reaction tube. two different sets of primers specific for hav-cdna and hev-cdna were used ... | 2000 | 11296746 |
| interaction study of peptide from vp3 capsid protein of hepatitis a virus through monolayers and fluorescence spectroscopy. | a synthetic peptide with the sequence [lys113]vp3(110--121): fwrkdlvfdfqv, corresponding to an epitope of the vp3 capsid protein of hepatitis a virus (hav), was synthesized by solid phase and characterized. to obtain insight into its physicochemical properties and to understand its possible mechanism of action at the membrane level, interaction with dppc or dppc/dppg (95/5) liposomes and lipid monolayers of dppc, dppg, sa, ps, pa and sm were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and langmuir--blo ... | 2001 | 11312535 |
| improved method for the recovery of hepatitis a virus from oysters. | hepatitis a is one of the major infectious diseases epidemiologically associated with worldwide shellfish consumption. molecular detection using polymerase chain reaction (pcr) to detect hepatitis a virus (hav) in contaminated shellfish can be hindered by low virus recoveries during the concentration process and by natural pcr inhibitors in shellfish. this study evaluated and modified two major steps of a processing procedure for virus concentration from oysters: acid adsorption-elution and solv ... | 2001 | 11337037 |
| electron microscopy of buffalo green monkey kidney cells persistently infected with hepatitis a virus and immunolocalization of hav antigens. | studies were carried out to analyse the ultrastructural changes and the distribution of hepatitis a virus (hav)/antigens at subcellular level in buffalo green monkey kidney (bgmk) cells persistently infected with hm-175 strain of hav. hav infected bgmk cells showed distinct abnormalities in the endoplasmic reticulum and cytoplasmic membrane as compared to uninfected cells. the abnormalities were characterized by wavy arrays, structures like myelin, annulate lamellae, cytoplasmic inclusion bodies ... | 2000 | 11344603 |
| prevalence of enterically transmitted hepatitis viruses in patients attending a tertiary--care hospital in south india. | the prevalance of enterically transmitted hepatitis viruses, namely, hepatitis a virus (hav) and hepatitis e virus (hev) were studied in 404 patients with acute hepatitis attending a tertiary-care hospital in south india. presence of current hav/hev infection was ascertained by the demonstration of igm antibodies. in 381 patients tested for both agents, hav igm was present in 51(13.3%) and hev igm present in 66(17.3%). there was dual infection in 3 males (0.8%). hev infection was seen mostly in ... | 2000 | 11344607 |
| molecular epidemiology of hepatitis a virus in korea. | the prevalence of antibodies for hepatitis a virus (anti-hav) in adolescents and young adults has decreased remarkably following the economic growth in korea. as a result, this age group has a high risk for hav infection paradoxically, and over 1500 cases of clinically overt hepatitis a occurred in 1998. human isolates of hepatitis a virus (hav) are categorized within four genotypes (i, ii, iii, and vii). in some geographic regions, closely related isolates cluster, suggesting endemic spread of ... | 2001 | 11350547 |
| genetic relatedness of cuban hav wild-type isolates. | knowledge of the nucleotide sequence in the region of the putative vp1/2a junction of the hepatitis a virus (hav) genome has enabled differentiation of hav strains and their classification into seven genotypes, in some of which sub-genotypes a and b can be defined. a 168 base segment encompassing the putative vp1/2a junction of 27 clinical wild-type isolates of hav from cuba was amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and then sequenced. the cuban isolates are clustered with ... | 2001 | 11360240 |
| change in hepatitis a virus seroepidemiology in southern taiwan: a large percentage of the population lack protective antibody. | hepatitis a, the predominant reported etiologic form of viral hepatitis in taiwan, continues to be a disease primarily of children and young adults. a seroepidemiologic study was performed to assess the seroprevalence of hepatitis a (hav) antibodies in the southern taiwan general population in 1998 and is compared with results of a similar study in 1992. a total of 948 subjects (477 male and 471 female) with ages ranging from 0.3 to 63 years were stratified into 14 age-specific groups. the prese ... | 2001 | 11360241 |
| epstein-barr virus specific salivary antibodies as related to stress caused by examinations. | epstein-barr virus (ebv) is prevalent in 90% of the population. after primary infection it remains in a latent state and the majority of the virus carriers are asymptomatic during their life. among the immunocompromized patients such as organ and bone marrow transplant recipients, individuals lacking t cell immunity, and patients treated with corticosteroid, cancer, and aids patients ebv primary infection and reactivation can cause life threatening diseases. immunosupression may occur also durin ... | 2001 | 11360247 |
| association between seropositivity of antibodies against hepatitis a virus and helicobacter pylori. | helicobacter pylori and hepatitis a virus (hav) are documented to share common transmission routes including fecal-oral. this study examined the association between seropositivity of antibodies against h. pylori (anti-hp) and hav (anti-hav) via a community-based survey of 40 randomly selected kindergartens in 10 urban and 10 rural areas. serum samples from 2,047 healthy preschool children and 104 teachers were screened for anti-hp by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and for anti-hav by micropa ... | 2000 | 11388513 |
| protracted, but not acute, hepatitis a virus infection is strongly associated with hla-drb*1301, a marker for pediatric autoimmune hepatitis. | hla alleles are known to be associated with susceptibility to develop autoimmune hepatitis (ah), and hepatitis a virus (hav) infection is postulated as a putative trigger for ah. we investigated whether hla may influence the outcome of the hav infection by studying 67 children with self-limited and 39 children with protracted forms of this infection. hla typing of the uncomplicated forms showed no significant increase of any hla class i or ii alleles. in contrast, drb1*1301 was present in 46.1% ... | 2001 | 11391541 |
| allogenic bone marrow transplantation with a donor presenting with an acute hepatitis a. | we report the unique occurrence of an allogenic bone marrow transplantation performed as the donor was suffering from an acute hepatitis a. the bone marrow was contaminated at the time of collection, as demonstrated by hepatitis a virus (hav) rna detected by rt-pcr. hepatitis a virus infection in such a situation could have resulted in a severe liver disease in the recipient. however, although we could demonstrate that the recipient had been infected, he did not develop a symptomatic hepatitis a ... | 2001 | 11394666 |
| hepatitis a control in a refugee camp by active immunization. | an outbreak of hepatitis a occurred among children of a refugee camp in croatia. in order to disrupt the outbreak, we decided to vaccinate children from 1 to 15 years of age in the camp, in addition to intensified general preventive measures. assuming high prevalence of hepatitis a virus antibodies within this population, we conducted anti-hav testing of the children eligible for vaccination. of 108 children tested, 74 (68.5%) were anti-hav positive. we vaccinated 34 children. one month after va ... | 2001 | 11395194 |
| molecular epidemiology of viral pathogens and tracing of transmission routes: hepatitis-, calici- and hantaviruses. | background: the need to rapidly identify new therapeutic drugs and vaccines for clinically important viral infections has resulted in intensive study of the molecular properties of viruses. modern molecular techniques have provided tools for tracing infections and studying the evolution of viruses. objective study and design: two examples illustrating how modern molecular techniques can be used in clinical virology and molecular epidemiology (hepatitis and caliciviruses), and one example documen ... | 2001 | 11397654 |
| closed-circuit system for the depuration of mussels experimentally contaminated with hepatitis a virus. | in italy, the consumption of raw or slightly cooked mussels represents the most important risk factor for the transmission of hepatitis a virus (hav). although there exist effective methods for the bacterial depuration of contaminated mussels, these methods are poorly effective on enteric viruses. the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a closed-circuit depuration system that uses both ozone and uv light for disinfecting water and that allows salinity and temperat ... | 2001 | 11403143 |
| a new g-tailing method for the determination of the poly(a) tail length applied to hepatitis a virus rna. | to study the role of the poly(a) tail length during the replication of poly(a)-containing plus-strand rna virus, we have developed a simple reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr)-based method that substantially improves the previously reported pat [poly(a) test] assay. in contrast to the pat assay, the new method is based on the enzymatic 3' elongation of mrna with guanosine residues, thus immediately preserving the 3' end of the rna and creating a unique poly(a)-oligo(g) junct ... | 2001 | 11410680 |
| immunoglobulin a nephropathy associated with hepatitis a virus infection. | renal involvement in association with nonfulminant hepatitis a virus (hav) infections have been reported infrequently and when present have been characterized by mild proteinuria, microscopic hematuria and slight urinary sediment abnormalities. acute renal failure and nephrotic syndrome are extremely rare complications. this report describes a case of acute renal failure and nephrotic syndrome following a nonfulminant course of hav infection with biopsy proven immunoglobulin a nephropathy. the c ... | 2001 | 11411012 |
| risks associated with hepatitis a and hepatitis b in patients with hepatitis c. | individuals with hepatitis c virus (hcv) are at risk for acquiring hepatitis a virus (hav) or hepatitis b virus (hbv) because of shared risk factors. a number of organizations recommend vaccination against hav and hbv for patients with hcv. the rationale for vaccinating these patients is to prevent hepatic superinfections. acute hav superinfection causes more severe disease, acute hepatic failure, and higher fatality rates in patients with underlying chronic liver disease, specifically chronic h ... | 2001 | 11418785 |
| immunogenicity of hepatitis a vaccination in decompensated cirrhotic patients. | hepatitis a virus (hav) vaccination is recommended in chronic liver disease because of an increased morbidity and mortality associated with hav superinfection. however, data regarding the efficacy of hav vaccination in patients with advanced chronic liver disease is limited. we assessed the efficacy of a standard hav vaccination schedule in decompensated chronic liver disease in comparison with compensated disease and defined clinical predictors associated with seroconversion. eighty-four anti-h ... | 2001 | 11431730 |
| hepatitis c and cirrhotic liver disease in the nile delta of egypt: a community-based study. | residents of egypt's nile river delta have among the world's highest seroprevalence of hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection. to assess the impact of hcv on chronic liver disease, we studied the association between hcv, other hepatitis viruses, and cirrhotic liver disease in a cross-sectional, community-based survey of 801 persons aged > or = 10 years living in a semi-urban, nile delta village. residents were systematically sampled using questionnaires, physical examination, abdominal ultrasonograph ... | 2001 | 11442209 |
| changing epidemiology of hepatitis a and hepatitis e in urban and rural india (1982-98). | the epidemiology of hepatitis a virus (hav) and hepatitis e virus (hev) was assessed among age-stratified urban high socioeconomic, lower middle socioeconomic status and rural populations from western india in 1998. when compared with previous surveys, a clear shift from high to intermediate endemicity of hav was evident only for higher socioeconomic population (1982-98), raising the possibility of outbreaks of hepatitis a in this category. a decrease in anti-hav positivity was noted in rural ch ... | 2001 | 11454182 |
| human enteric viruses in coquina clams associated with a large hepatitis a outbreak. | an outbreak of hepatitis a, affecting 183 people, occurred in valencia (spain). epidemiological evidence pointed to an association of the outbreak with consumption of coquina clams (donax sp), imported frozen from peru. shellfish were analysed for the presence of hepatitis a virus (hav), enteroviruses, rotaviruses, astroviruses, caliciviruses and hepatitis e virus. hav was detected in 75% of assayed shellfish samples. other enteric viruses were occasionally found in the same samples. molecular e ... | 2001 | 11464770 |
| experimental hepatitis a virus infection in guinea pigs. | although many of the properties of hepatitis a virus (hav) are known, several aspects of hav pathogenesis are still not understood, such as the mechanism underlying the hepatotropism or hav replication in extrahepatic sites. detailed studies of these aspects were hampered mostly by the lack of accessible animal models, since only nonhuman primates are susceptible to experimental infections. an alternative animal model would also be of interest to assess the primary replication site and for the e ... | 2001 | 11468723 |
| tt virus infection in cases of fulminant hepatic failure-evaluation by clonality based on amino acid sequence of hypervariable regions. | the significance of tt virus (ttv) infection in the pathogenesis of acute liver disease is uncertain. serum ttv-dna was determined by polymarase-chain reaction (pcr) methods using both hemi-nested (ng059/ng063 and ng061/ng063) and single-step (t801/t935) primers in four patients with fulminant hepatic failure and one patient with late onset hepatic failure in whom hepatitis a virus (hav) and hepatitis b virus (hbv) markers were negative. of these five patients, the ttv-dna was positive in two pa ... | 2001 | 11470631 |
| activity of the hepatitis a virus ires requires association between the cap-binding translation initiation factor (eif4e) and eif4g. | the question of whether translation initiation factor eif4e and the complete eif4g polypeptide are required for initiation dependent on the ires (internal ribosome entry site) of hepatitis a virus (hav) has been examined using in vitro translation in standard and eif4g-depleted rabbit reticulocyte lysates. in agreement with previous publications, the hav ires is unique among all picornavirus iress in that it was inhibited if translation initiation factor eif4g was cleaved by foot-and-mouth disea ... | 2001 | 11483729 |
| detailed analysis of the requirements of hepatitis a virus internal ribosome entry segment for the eukaryotic initiation factor complex eif4f. | the hepatitis a virus (hav) internal ribosome entry segment (ires) is unique among the picornavirus iress in that it is inactive in the presence of either the entero- and rhinovirus 2a or aphthovirus lb proteinases. since these proteinases both cleave eukaryotic initiation factor 4g (eif4g) and hav ires activity could be rescued in vitro by addition of eif4f to proteinase-treated extracts, it was concluded that the hav ires requires eif4f containing intact eif4g. here, we show that the inability ... | 2001 | 11483730 |
| analysis of full-length hepatitis a virus genome in sera from patients with fulminant and self-limited acute type a hepatitis. | type a hepatitis still poses a considerable problem worldwide. why some patients progress to fulminant type a hepatitis and others do not is still unknown. to examine whether genomic differences of hepatitis a virus (hav) are responsible for the severity of the disease, we analyzed the whole hav genomes from patients with fulminant and self-limited acute type a hepatitis. | 2001 | 11495028 |
| seroepidemiology of hepatitis a infection in india: changing pattern. | recent changes in the epidemiology of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection and the availability of effective vaccines have renewed interest in this infection. we determined the age-related prevalence of anti-hav antibodies in india and looked for differences by known risk factors for hav infection. | 2001 | 11497169 |
| yield and future issues of nucleic acid testing. | despite the much lower actual yield than that estimated for hepatitis c virus (hcv) and human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) nucleic acid testing (nat)-only positives in the usa and germany, look-back procedures have revealed that no hcv transmission has occurred in germany since the introduction of nat. this indicates sufficient sensitivity of the pool-pcr approach. the slow ramp-up of hepatitis b virus (hbv) however, may require a different approach. it has been shown in germany that the pooling ... | 2001 | 11499978 |
| past infection with hepatitis a virus among vancouver street youth, injection drug users and men who have sex with men: implications for vaccination programs. | in canada, inactivated hepatitis a vaccines are targeted selectively at those at increased risk for infection or its complications. in order to evaluate the need for routine hepatitis a vaccination programs in vancouver for street youth, injection drug users (idus) and men who have sex with men (msm), we determined the prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis a virus (hav) and risk factors for hav in these groups. | 2001 | 11517645 |
| rapid and efficient extraction method for reverse transcription-pcr detection of hepatitis a and norwalk-like viruses in shellfish. | as part of an effort to develop a broadly applicable test for norwalk-like viruses and hepatitis a virus (hav) in shellfish, a rapid extraction method that is suitable for use with one-step reverse transcription (rt)-pcr-based detection methods was developed. the method involves virus extraction using a ph 9.5 glycine buffer, polyethylene glycol (peg) precipitation, tri-reagent, and purification of viral poly(a) rna by using magnetic poly(dt) beads. this glycine-peg-tri-reagent-poly(dt) method c ... | 2001 | 11526018 |
| genetic analysis of hepatitis a virus outbreak in france confirms the co-circulation of subgenotypes ia, ib and reveals a new genetic lineage. | genetic analysis of selected genome regions of hepatitis a virus (hav) suggested that distinct genotype could be defined in different geographic locations. in order to study the degree of genetic variability among hav isolated during a single epidemic outbreak, sequences from a 148 base pair segment within the vp1 amino terminal region were obtained for eight distinct hav isolates from an outbreak that occurred in north bretagne (france). these sequences were compared among themselves and with p ... | 2001 | 11536228 |
| protease inhibitors as potential antiviral agents for the treatment of picornaviral infections. | the picornavirus family contains several human pathogens including human rhinovirus (hrv) and hepatitis a virus (hav). in the case of hrvs, these small single-stranded positive-sense rna viruses translate their genetic information into a polyprotein precursor which is further processed mainly by two viral proteases designated 2a and 3c. the 2a protease (2apro) makes the first cleavage between the structural and non-structural proteins, while 3c protease (3cpro) catalyzes most of the remaining in ... | 2001 | 11548209 |
| [expression of hepatitis a virus recombinant proteins in escherichia coli]. | on the basis of coding regions on the fragments of genes p1 and p2 of hepatitis a virus (hav) recombinant proteins of this virus have been synthesized in the prokaryotic expressing system of e. coli, isolated and studied with the use of sera obtained from hepatitis a patients. the capacity of hav recombinant proteins for binding with the sera of patients with hepatitis a in the acute stage has been shown with the use of immunoblotting and the indirect solid-phase enzyme immunoassay. the results ... | 2001 | 11548267 |
| interaction of picornavirus 2c polypeptide with the viral negative-strand rna. | the picornavirus membrane-associated polypeptide 2c is believed to be required for viral rna synthesis. hepatitis a virus (hav)- and human rhinovirus (hrv)-encoded recombinant 2c proteins have been expressed, purified and examined for their ability to interact with the terminal sequences of viral positive- and negative-strand rnas. the results demonstrate that both the hav- and the hrv-encoded 2c polypeptide specifically interact with the 3'-terminal sequences of the negative-strand rna, but not ... | 2001 | 11602773 |
| genetic variability of hepatitis a virus in south america reveals heterogeneity and co-circulation during epidemic outbreaks. | genetic analysis of selected genome regions of hepatitis a virus (hav) suggested that distinct genotypes of hav could be found in different geographical regions. in order to gain insight into the genetic variability and mode of evolution of hav in south america, an analysis was performed of sequence data obtained from the vp1 amino terminus and the vp1/2a region of hav strains isolated over a short period of time in uruguay, argentina and chile. sequences obtained from 22 distinct hav isolates w ... | 2001 | 11602776 |
| [autoimmune hepatitis with prolonged igm antibodies to hav. are serological markers reliable in ruling out a diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis?]. | we present the case of a 44-year-old woman who was referred to us for jaundice, choluria and acholia. review of the patient's clinical history revealed that tests for hepatitis a virus (hav) igm antibody had been positive 4 and 2 years previously and continued to be so. the patient showed a score of 16 in the international autoimmune hepatitis group's system when the hav marker was not taken into account and a score of 13 when this marker was taken into account. the persistence of this viral mar ... | 2001 | 11674957 |
| magnitude and quality of antibody response to a combination hepatitis a and hepatitis b vaccine. | interference between antibodies generated by a combination hepatitis a and b vaccine was investigated by evaluating the quantity and quality of anti-hepatitis a virus (hav) and anti-hepatitis b surface antigen (hbs) antibodies generated by twinrix (hepatitis a inactivated and hepatitis b (recombinant) vaccine). the magnitude of the immune response was determined by a retrospective analysis of eight clinical trials, completed during stepwise development of twinrix. the functionality of anti-hav w ... | 2002 | 11684316 |
| nucleic acid testing: update and applications. | nucleic acid testing (nat) holds the promise of closing the window of infectiousness for hepatitis c virus (hcv) and the human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) in the general blood supply. pioneering work by the source plasma industry with nat for hepatitis a virus (hav), hepatitis b virus (hbv), and parvovirus b19 suggests that, in the future, the risk of other viral infections may be reduced using similar technology. the european commission decree that, by july 1999, all source plasma for fraction ... | 2001 | 11685721 |
| the epidemiology of hepatitis a infection in palestine: a universal vaccination programme is not yet needed. | in palestine, there has been an increase in the reported incidence of acute hepatitis a virus (hav) infection since 1995. since overt clinical disease occurs only among adults, questions were raised whether or not a shift in the epidemiology of hav has occurred. this is generally characterized by a decrease in the overall incidence rate and a shifting in the mean age of infection towards adolescence and early adulthood. the need for a vaccination programme is being discussed. to resolve this iss ... | 2001 | 11693511 |
| antibodies to hepatitis a virus in italian patients with chronic liver disease. | to improve our knowledge for future hepatitis a virus (hav) vaccination strategies we carried out a multicentre study on naturally acquired immunological protection against hav in patients with chronic hepatitis in italy. we enrolled 830 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis on their first observation at one of the six italian liver units participating in the study. six hundred and fifty-eight patients (79.3%) were positive for total anti-hav and 172 (20.7%) were negative. the anti-hav neg ... | 2001 | 11693512 |
| detecting the presence of infectious hepatitis a virus in molluscs positive to rt-nested-pcr. | the objective of this study was to determine the presence of infectious hepatitis a virus (hav) in molluscs naturally contaminated with viral hav-rna. | 2001 | 11696097 |
| transmission of hepatitis a through household contact. | in the usa, cost effectiveness assessments support childhood hepatitis a vaccination in geographical areas with elevated disease rates, but not nationally. however, these studies do not address the reduction in disease transmission which may result from routine childhood vaccination. using decision analysis, we estimated the number and age distribution of secondary hepatitis a cases occurring within households with an index case. based on the age of the index case, we determined household size a ... | 2001 | 11703577 |
| genetic analysis of hepatitis a virus strains recovered from the environment and from patients with acute hepatitis. | the molecular epidemiology of hepatitis a virus (hav) was studied by analysing hav strains recovered from environmental water samples over a 7 year period and strains recovered from patients with acute hepatitis over a 5 year period. a total of 54 samples of raw domestic sewage and 66 samples of river water were collected. hav particles were concentrated and detected by nested rt-pcr. hav infection in patients with acute hepatitis was serologically diagnosed in 26 of 74 serum samples, which were ... | 2001 | 11714971 |
| detection of hepatitis a virus by the nucleic acid sequence-based amplification technique and comparison with reverse transcription-pcr. | a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (nasba) technique for the detection of hepatitis a virus (hav) in foods was developed and compared to the traditional reverse transcription (rt)-pcr technique. oligonucleotide primers targeting the vp1 and vp2 genes encoding the major hav capsid proteins were used for the amplification of viral rna in an isothermal process resulting in the accumulation of rna amplicons. amplicons were detected by hybridization with a digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide ... | 2001 | 11722911 |
| identification of tapr (an airway hyperreactivity regulatory locus) and the linked tim gene family. | to simplify the analysis of asthma susceptibility genes located at human chromosome 5q23-35, we examined congenic mice that differed at the homologous chromosomal segment. we identified a mendelian trait encoded by t cell and airway phenotype regulator (tapr). tapr is genetically distinct from known cytokine genes and controls the development of airway hyperreactivity and t cell production of interleukin 4 (il-4) and il-13. positional cloning identified a gene family that encodes t cell membrane ... | 2001 | 11725301 |
| an outbreak of hepatitis a among young men associated with having sex in public venues. | an increase in hepatitis a virus (hav) infection was noted among young men in the former thames regions during 1997. a retrospective case-control study, using a standardised questionnaire at interview, was conducted in the area most affected (london and east sussex) to investigate the hypothesis that this increase was mainly among homosexual men and to establish the risk factors associated with transmission. forty-eight cases and 161 controls completed questionnaires. forty-one cases (85%) descr ... | 2001 | 11732354 |
| guidelines for the control of hepatitis a virus infection. | the phls advisory committee on vaccination and immunisation, following a review of the evidence on control measures for preventing hepatitis a virus (hav) infection and widespread consultation, has prepared the following guidelines. they include a description of the current epidemiology of hav infection in england and wales, where most individuals are now susceptible to hav. hav infection is uncommon, with around 1000 infections notified per year in england and wales. clusters occur in families ... | 2001 | 11732363 |
| perspectives: towards a peptide-based vaccine against hepatitis c virus. | hepatitis c virus (hcv) is a widespread infectious disease in humans with the negative implication of becoming chronic in most persons. patients infected with hcv are at risk of liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma at later stages. in contrast to hepatitis a and hepatitis b, there is no immunization yet available, neither prophylactic nor therapeutic. thus, there is an urgent need to develop a safe, protective vaccine against this fatal disease. developing countries are even more at risk ... | 2001 | 11741697 |
| improved detection of human enteric viruses in foods by rt-pcr. | human enteric viruses (including hepatitis a virus (hav) and norwalk-like viruses (nlvs)) are now recognized as common causes of foodborne disease. while methods to detect these agents in clinical specimens have improved significantly over the last 10 years, applications to food samples have progressed more slowly. in an effort to improve the sensitivity and speed of virus detection from non-shellfish food commodities by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr), we (i) evaluated ... | 2002 | 11742653 |
| characterization of hepatitis a virus isolates from subgenotypes ia and ib in rio de janeiro, brazil. | hepatitis a virus (hav) isolates from around the world have been classified into seven genotypes (i-vii). most human strains belong to genotype i, which has been divided into two subgenotypes, a and b. south america has provided a small number of strains studied at the genome level. in the present study, igm anti-hav antibodies were detected in 116 out of 250 (46%) serum samples collected from consecutive patients with acute hepatitis referred to the brazilian reference center for viral hepatiti ... | 2002 | 11748654 |
| genetic characterization of wild-type genotype vii hepatitis a virus. | the complete genome sequence of the only identified genotype vii hepatitis a virus (hav), strain slf88, was obtained from pcr amplicons generated by a modified long pcr approach. there was 90% nucleotide identity in the 5' untranslated region compared to other known hav sequences. in the remainder of the genome containing the long open reading frame, there was about 85% nucleotide identity to human hav genotypes ia and ib and 80% identity to simian hav genotype v. compared to hav strain hm-175, ... | 2002 | 11752700 |
| hepatitis a virus: a test method for virucidal activity. | hepatitis a virus (hav) is closely related to the genus enterovirus. hav is very stable and resistant to acid ph and elevated temperature, as well as to chemicals and environmental influences. human poliovirus is still one of the model viruses for testing disinfectants but there are discussions about changing to hepatitis a virus. the purpose of this study was to develop a method for using adapted hepatitis a virus to test hand disinfectants. using hav strains hm175/24a and frhk-4 cytopathic eff ... | 2001 | 11759019 |
| [chronic hepatitis c and risk for hepatitis a infection]. | the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anti-hav antibodies and factors associated with hav infection amongst patients with chronic hepatitis c. the prevalence of anti-hav antibodies in hepatitis c patients was 69.2% and did not differ significantly from 63.3% observed in the group of healthy controls. in patients with chronic hepatitis c the occurrence of hav antibodies was not associated with the duration of hcv infection, history of transfusions and surgeries. there was a ten ... | 2001 | 11761835 |
| replication of subgenomic hepatitis a virus rnas expressing firefly luciferase is enhanced by mutations associated with adaptation of virus to growth in cultured cells. | replication of hepatitis a virus (hav) in cultured cells is inefficient and difficult to study due to its protracted and generally noncytopathic cycle. to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved, we constructed a subgenomic hav replicon by replacing most of the p1 capsid-coding sequence from an infectious cdna copy of the cell culture-adapted hm175/18f virus genome with sequence encoding firefly luciferase. replication of this rna in transfected huh-7 cells (derived from a human h ... | 2002 | 11773393 |
| influence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection on acute hepatitis a virus infection. | to assess the possible influence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (hiv-1) infection on the clinical course of acute hepatitis a virus (hav) infection, 15 hiv-1-infected homosexual men and 15 non-hiv-infected age-matched subjects were compared. hav load was higher in hiv-1-infected than in non-hiv-infected patients (p<.001). duration of viremia in hiv-1-infected patients (median, 53 days) was significantly (p<.05) longer than in non-hiv-infected patients (median, 22 days). hiv-1-infected pa ... | 2002 | 11774086 |
| genetic analysis of wild-type hepatitis a virus strains. | to clarify the distribution of hepatitis a virus (hav) genotype in geographical regions of china. | 2001 | 11780469 |
| thrombocytopenia and emperipolesis in a patient with hepatitis a infection. | lmmune thrombocytopenia is a benign, self-limiting disease in children, responding well to treatment and generally associated with viral infections. a 13-year-old girl was admitted to a hospital with the epistaxis and purpura after an attack of jaundice 6 weeks before. the diagnosis of hepatitis a virus (hav)-induced thrombocytopenia was made. furthermore, erythrophagocytosis by megakaryocytes was demonstrated in the bone marrow of the patient. although hematologic complications following hepati ... | 2002 | 11787869 |
| seroprevalence of hepatitis a virus antibody among children and young adults in bangkok. | to determine the prevalence of hepatitis a virus (hav) antibodies in various age groups of healthy children and young adults who have not received the hepatitis a vaccine. | 2001 | 11804259 |
| hepatitis a virus polyprotein processing by escherichia coli proteases. | hepatitis a virus (hav) encodes a single polyprotein, which is post-translationally processed. this processing represents an essential step in capsid formation. the virus possesses only one protease, 3c, responsible for all cleavages, except for that at the vp1/2a junction region, which is processed by cellular proteases. in this study, data demonstrates that hav polyprotein processing by escherichia coli protease(s) leads to the formation of particulate structures. p3 polyprotein processing in ... | 2002 | 11807229 |
| perinuclear accumulation of hepatitis a virus proteins, rna, and particles and ultrastructural alterations in infected cells. | the exact intracellular site of hepatitis a virus (hav) production is unknown, possibly due to its usually slow and inefficient replication. using immunocytochemistry and in-situ rt-pcr, we show that in cells infected with the rapidly replicating hav strain has-15, viral proteins and rna are scattered throughout the cytoplasm and accumulate in the perinuclear cytoplasmic area. various ultrastructural alterations were found in infected cells, such as large polyribosomes, swelling of the perinucle ... | 2001 | 11811680 |
| immunization strategies to control a community-wide hepatitis a epidemic. | one fifth of 527 cases of hepatitis a occurred in self-identified injection drug users during a community-wide epidemic in spokane county (washington) in 1997-8. we hypothesized that an immunization campaign targeted at illicit drug users could control the epidemic. starting in may 1998, hepatitis a vaccine was provided to individuals in jails and other sites frequented by illicit drug users. volunteers at vaccination sites were surveyed about risk. serial convenience samples of jail inmates who ... | 2001 | 11811879 |
| an outbreak of hepatitis a amongst injecting drug users. | this descriptive study investigated an outbreak of hepatitis a virus (hav) infection among injecting drug users (idus) and their contacts. twenty-seven cases of acute hav infection were identified in a 5-month period. connections with the local injecting drug using (idu) population were established for 25 of the cases of whom 14 admitted to injecting drug use. hav rna genotyping revealed two hav variants, closely related to variants found in scandinavian idus and in south east asia. the study de ... | 2001 | 11811880 |
| prevalence of markers for hepatitis a, b and c in the german population. results of the german national health interview and examination survey 1998. | the prevalence of serological parameters indicative of infection with hepatitis a, b and c was determined using sera collected from representative population samples in the former east german (new) federal states and the west german (old) federal states during the german national health and examination survey in 1998. sera were tested for antibodies to hepatitis a virus (hav), to hepatitis b core antigen (hbc) and to hepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag), hepatitis c virus (hcv), as well as for th ... | 2001 | 11855576 |
| a polymerase chain reaction-based method for the detection of hepatitis a virus in produce and shellfish. | outbreaks of gastroenteritis that are suspected to be of viral origin are on the rise. thus, there is a need for regulatory agencies entrusted with food safety to develop adequate techniques for the detection of viruses in foods. we have established a general procedure for the detection of hepatitis a virus (hav) in shellfish that, with minor modifications, is also applicable to fresh produce such as cilantro. total rna was isolated from shellfish or cilantro, followed by isolation of poly(a)-co ... | 2002 | 11858194 |
| [protective efficacy of h2 strain live attenuated hepatitis a vaccines in an outbreak of hepatitis a]. | to investigate the protective efficacy of h(2) strain live attenuated hepatitis a vaccine (h(2)-strain vaccine) locally produced in an outbreak of hepatitis a (ha). | 2000 | 11860920 |