Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in individuals with clinical evidence of hepatitis in Goiânia, Goiás: detection of viral DNA and determination of subtypes

The presence of serological markers for hepatitis B virus (HBsAg, anti-HBc IgM and Anti-HBc total) was investigated in the serum of 1,396 individuals who had clinical suspect of hepatitis. It was observed that 50.7% of the individuals were positive and, from the total of the studied individuals, 14.5% were positive for HBsAg. From these, 8.5% were also positive for anti-HBc IgM. The analysis in relation to gender showed a higher seroprevalence index among male individuals (p < 0.0001). It was observed the occurrence of subtypes adw2 (62.7%), ayw3 (23.5%), ayw2 (9.8%) and adw4 (3.9%). The viral DNA was detected in 61 (33.9%) HBsAg positive samples and in one sample positive only for anti-HBc total. These results indicate an important incidence of the HBV infection in this population, and reinforce previous studies regarding this virus in the central west region of Brazil.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: SILVA,Claudia de Oliveira e, AZEVEDO,Marli da Silva Pereira, SOARES,Célia Maria de Almeida, MARTINS,Regina Maria Bringel, RAMOS,Carmen Helena, DAHER,Roberto Ruhman, CARDOSO,Divina das Dôres de Paula
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 2002
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652002000600007
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