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Objective: To detect the frequency of anti-HCV antibodies in hemodialysis patients. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Virology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jul to Dec 2021. Methodology: One hundred and fifteen patients were selected from the Hemodialysis Centre. Blood samples were taken from patients undergoing hemodialysis to detect anti-HCV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The samples were spun up and checked for anti-HCV antibodies using the Bio-Rad Monolisa anti-HCV version 3 kit and a 3rd generation ELISA. Results: A total of 115 patients were tested for anti-HCV. The anti-HCVs in this study were detected in 34(29.56%) patients. The mean duration of hemodialysis was 2.3±1.4 years. Out of 115 patients, 81(70.4%) had no significant history. Of the 34 positive patients, 15(44.2%) had a history of intravascular exposures, 12(35%) had a history of blood transfusion, 3(8.8%) had a history of tooth extraction surgery during the dialysis period, and 4(11%) had a history of minor surgery during dialysis. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the significant frequency of HCV infection in hemodialysis patients, particularly those with a history of intravenous exposure and blood transfusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration reclassified 2 types of hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnostic tests (HCV antibody and HCV nucleic acid) from class III to class II, providing a less burdensome pathway to market for diagnostic companies. This down-classification is anticipated to facilitate innovation in HCV diagnostics, particularly for new point-of-care viral detection assays, and ultimately support HCV elimination efforts by increasing the ease of screening as well as test-and-treat models of HCV care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: A goal of the World Health Organization’s global hepatitis strategy is the elimination of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by 2030. As part of its strategy, the Federal Joint Committee (Germany) decided to include hepatitis B and C screening in a preventive medical examination, which is performed at the primary care level in Germany. We investigated the results 1 year after implementation of screening between October 2021 and September 2022. Methods: HBsAg/HBV DNA and anti-HCV/HCV RNA screenings were identified by billing categories in 286,192 individuals of 11 ambulatory healthcare centers. Results: Compared to 30,106 HBsAg and 31,266 anti-HCV laboratory requisitions in the year 2018, the number of tests increased to 286,192 during the screening period. Compared to routine care, additional anti-HCV positive tests age dependently increased the tally by 98% (177 plus 170 positive cases in males) and 123% (96 plus 118 positive cases in females) in those aged 35-44 years up to 518% (17 plus 88 positive cases in males) and 514% (29 plus 149 positive cases in females) in those aged 75-84 years. Similar results were observed for HBsAg. Prevalences of HBsAg, anti-HCV and HCV RNA were 0.54%, 0.79% and 0.13%, respectively. Conclusions: A structured hepatitis screening program at the primary care level has been successfully established and leads to age- and-sex-dependent large additional effects compared to routine care. Impact and implications: Strategies to eliminate chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection are country specific and vary between clinical scenarios. Our analysis proves the efficacy of a screening program by primary care physicians compared to routine care in a low-prevalence country. This program should be accompanied by additional efforts in risk populations like people who inject drugs who are under-represented in the current screening approach.

The aim is to determine the dynamic changes in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among various age groups of the conditionally healthy population of the Tyva Republic over the past 11 years.Material and methods. 1163 serum samples collected in 2019 from the healthy volunteers living in the Tyva Republic of were tested for HCV markers. The study included people of 10 age cohorts: less than 1 year, 1-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 years, and 60 years or older. Anti-HCV antibodies were detected using commercially available enzyme immunoassay. HCV RNA was detected in anti-HCV positive samples by means of RT-PCR. The dynamic changes in HCV prevalence were assessed based on a comparison of the results with data of the seroservey of the same design conducted in this region in 2008 in similar age cohorts of healthy volunteers (n=910).Results and discussion. The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among general population of the Tyva Republic in 2019 was 2.0%. This indicator slightly decreased by 1.7 times over 10 years (3.3% in 2008, p =0.1629). The prevalence of active HCV infection in the Tyva Republic also decreased not significantly (1.1% in 2019 vs. 1.3% in 2008, p = 0.6901). The proportion of people with active infection among anti-HCV positives in 2019 was 56.5%.The decrease in the prevalence of HCV infection over 11 years was associated with a significant reduction in the detection rates of hepatitis C markers in age cohort 40-49 years (0.9% in 2019 vs. 3.6% in 2008 for HCV RNA, p

Introduction: The aim of this national, multicenter, cross-sectional, retrospective chart review study was to determine the proportion of patients in Turkey who received hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment after receiving positive anti-HCV results during HCV screening. Methodology: Data related to patients' demographics, laboratory results, time interval from obtaining a positive anti-HCV result to treatment initiation, specialty of the physician requesting anti-HCV screening, and type of hospital were analyzed. Results: Among 1,000 patients who received a positive anti-HCV result, 50.3% were male and 78.5% were screened for HCV-RNA. Among HCV-RNA screened patients, 54.8% (n = 430) had a positive result. Among patients who tested positive for HCV-RNA, 72.8% received HCV treatment in line with their positive anti-HCV results. The median time from obtaining a positive anti-HCV result to initiation of HCV treatment was 91.0 days (interquartile range 42.0 to 178.5). Non-surgical branches requested HCV-RNA testing more frequently than surgical branches (p < 0.001). The rate of access to HCV treatment was higher among patients screened in university hospitals than among patients screened in training and research hospitals (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results indicate a higher rate of treatment initiation among patients with HCV infection than is described in the published literature. Furthermore, the time from screening to treatment initiation was considerably shorter compared with other international studies. However, since HCV-RNA testing was not requested in a significant portion of patients with a positive anti-HCV test result, there might be a large patient population with HCV who do not receive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The measurement of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is a test that requires high cost, advanced technique, and qualified personnel. Diagnosis and treatment of patients may be delayed due to the high rate of false-positive results. This study aims to predict true antibody positivity and viremia by determining the most appropriate anti-HCV signal-to-cutoff (S/Co) value reflecting HCV infection. Methodology: The presence of anti-HCV antibodies and HCV RNA levels were examined in 72341 people who applied to the Mengücek Gazi Training and Research Hospital between January 2018 and December 2020. The anti-HCV levels were determined by using the Abbot Architect i2000 SR device (Abbot Diagnostics, Chicago, IL, USA). The levels of HCV RNA were determined in the COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS, TaqMan 48 (Roche, Diagnostics, Pleasanton, USA) devices using serum samples from patients. Our study is a retrospective and methodological study. Results: Of the 150 patients with anti-HCV antibodies, 50 (33.3%) were HCV RNA positive, and 100 (66.7%) were HCV RNA negative. Anti-HCV levels of HCV RNA-positive patients were statistically higher than HCV RNA-negative patients. The most appropriate anti-HCV S/Co value for diagnosing hepatitis C patients was 15.4. The sensitivity of this value was 72%, specificity 88%, positive predictive value (PPV) 73.5%, and negative predictive value (NPV) 86.1%. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was significantly higher than 0.5 (95% confidence interval 0.938-0.827). Conclusions: Correct approaches can be applied in the diagnosis of HCV infection using the anti-HCV S/Co value found in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbal medicine treatment for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a promising alternative to common medical HCV treatments because it has low unwanted side effects and production costs. This study aimed to evaluate the methanol extract of Garcinia lattissima stem barks as an antiviral compound against strain JFH1 (HCV) genotype 2a. Garcinia lattissima stem bark methanolic extract (GL-SB) was added to Huh7it-1 cells infected with JFHI. Anti HCV activity was determined by Focus-forming unit (FFU) assay and the cytotoxicity activity was analyzed using the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay. The GL-SB showed its efficacy as the anti-HCV agent with a 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) of 34.2 µg/mL and a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 4.7 µg/mL. The co-addition and post-infection phases of GL-SB showed an anti-HCV activity, according to a time-of-addition investigation. These findings imply that GL-SB might be a promising candidate for add-on therapy in the treatment of HCV infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to determine an appropriate anti-HCV test cut-off value for the HCV-RNA study and contribute to the development of correct algorithms by evaluating our hospital's anti HCV and HCV-RNA test results between 2017-2019. Methods: Available HCV-RNA test results of patients who were found to have reactivity in anti-HCV were analyzed. Patients with anti-HCV reactivity were analyzed by dividing into age groups 0-20 years, 21-40 years, 41-60 years, and ≥61 years. HCV-RNA results were also evaluated within the same age groups. Patients with anti-HCV reactivity were divided into three groups according to their S/Co values as 1-5 mLU/mL, 5.1-10 mLU/mL, and ≥10.1 mLU/mL, and statistical analysis was performed. Results: Anti-HCV reactive results were divided into groups of 1.0-3.8 mLU/mL and ≥3.9 mLU/mL according to S/Co values, and HCV-RNA positivity was 2% and 44.4% respectively. When divided into three groups as 1-5 mLU/mL, 5.1-10 mLU/mL, and ≥10.1 mLU/mL according to S/Co values, the HCV RNA positivi- ty rate was 1.8%, 25%, and 55.2%, respectively. The difference between the groups was statistically significant. Conclusion: Countries should carry out comprehensive studies to represent their populations to determine cut-off values for widely used kits and to make this applicable with algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to analyze viral hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus serology of pregnant patients admitted to Cizre State Hospital. Methods: Patients admitted to Cizre State Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Polyclinic between January 2017 and May 2022 due to pregnancy were included in the study. Hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B surface antibody, hepatitis C virus antibody, human immunodeficiency virus antibody, and anti-HBc IgG values of the pregnant women studied by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method were examined. Results: In the study, 24.22% of pregnant women were examined in terms of viral hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus disease. The mean age of 4548 pregnant women included in the study was 29 ± 6.07 years. Serologically, hepatitis B surface antigen (93.99%) was the most requested test. Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity was detected in 45 pregnant women (1.05%), and 25 of them (55.55%) did not apply to the Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology outpatient clinic for further examination and treatment. Eighty percent of patients with hepatitis B surface antigen positivity were hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Hepatitis B surface antibody positivity was 35.68%. Hepatitis B surface antibody positivity was present in 33.79% of pregnant women who were born before 1998, when the routine hepatitis B vaccination program began, and in 47.78% of pregnant women born after 1998. As high as 0.41% of pregnant women were hepatitis C virus antibody positive. All of the 21 pregnant women whose first human immunodeficiency virus antibody tests were positive (0.64%) had negative control human immunodeficiency virus antibody results. Conclusion: In this study, the low rate (24.22%) of pregnant women were examined in terms of viral hepatitis and HIV disease indicating that more importance should be given to viral hepatitis screening. Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity was detected in 1.05% of pregnant women. It was a positive data that the anti-HBs test was found to be positive at a higher rate (47.78%) in pregnant women born after the routine hepatitis B vaccination was started in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Viral Hepatitis Journal / Viral Hepatit Dergisi is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background and Aims: Screening strategies for undiagnosed infections are fundamental for hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination. We previously investigated HCV prevalence and screening strategies in an urban primary care setting. IV drug abuse, blood transfusion before 1992, immigration, or elevated ALT were identified as risk factors in a post hoc analysis and diagnosed 83% of unknown HCV‐RNA‐positive cases by screening only 26% of the population. We aimed to validate prospectively the proposed screening algorithm in two independent urban and rural cohorts and to analyse for potential differences. Methods: Anti‐HCV and ALT were included in a routine check‐up together with a questionnaire covering risk factors. HCV‐RNA was analysed in anti‐HCV‐positive individuals. Results: In urban and rural areas, 4323 and 9321 individuals were recruited. The anti‐HCV prevalence was 0.56% and 0.49%, and 0.1% of patients were HCV‐RNA‐positive in both regions. Fifty‐two anti‐HCV positive patients including eight HCV‐RNA‐positive cases were unaware of the infection (number needed to screen to detect one unknown anti‐HCV‐positive individual: 262). At least one of the three aforementioned risk factors or elevated serum ALT was present in 3000 patients (22%). Restricting HCV screening to only those with risk factors, 52% and 75% of all anti‐HCV and HCV‐RNA‐positive undiagnosed patients were identified (number needed to screen: 111). Conclusions: We confirm prospectively the efficiency of a risk‐based HCV screening. The risk‐based algorithm should be evaluated in other countries with similarly low HCV prevalence as in Germany to achieve WHO HCV elimination goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While whole blood testing has evolved over the years, viral marker testing for plateletpheresis donors is still performed by Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT). Aim of this study was to compare diagnostic accuracy of RDT and Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) in serological testing for HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV antibodies. A prospective, analytical study was conducted in the department of Transfusion Medicine at a tertiary healthcare center in India between September 2016 and August 2018. Samples were simultaneously tested by CLIA, RDT and a confirmatory test. Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values and mean time taken to report results were calculated. A total of 102 (1.48%) of the 6883 samples were found to be reactive by either or both the assays. A total of 74 (1.08%) samples were HBsAg reactive, 23 (0.33%) were reactive for anti-HCV antibodies and 5 (0.07%) were reactive for anti-HIV I and II antibodies. A combined sero-prevalence of 1.05% (72) was observed; 0.78% (54) for HBsAg, 0.26% (18) for anti-HCV antibodies and none for anti-HIV I and II antibodies. Four (3.85%) reactive samples were missed by RDT and therefore sensitivity of RDT was quite less as compared to CLIA. RDT and CLIA both were found to have a statistically significant shorter turnaround time than confirmatory tests. There is increasing need to develop a safe donor screening strategy for plateletpheresis. CLIA offers an excellent alterative to RDT for viral marker testing in terms of sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To establish a reasonable and effective blood screening strategy for Hepatitis C virus (HCV), so as to reduce the risk of blood transfusion transmission, ensure blood safety and improve the quality of blood screening. Methods In order to evaluate HCV screening strategies comprehensively, the unqualified blood donations due to anti-HCV alone positivity in Dalian from 2017 to 2021 was tracked, with combined detection methods of electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) and HCV-RNA nucleic acid test (NAT). Results A total of 851 (0.20%) unqualified donations due to anti-HCV alone positivity were screened from 2017 to 2021, with a decreasing trend in both numbers and rate. Among them, the unqualified rate of samples with anti-HCV reactivity in both dural-ELISA-reagent and NAT decreased significantly (P

Objective To assess the status of HCV infection by analyzing the results of anti-HCV reactive blood samples detected by the current blood testing strategy, and discuss the viability of classified management of reactive blood donors. Methods The anti-HCV reactive samples (dual ELISA and once NAT), from May 2017 to October 2018, were divided into three groups: samples both anti-HCV and HCV RNA reactive, sole HCV RNA reactive, and sole anti-HCV reactive, and all of them were confirmed by recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). The positive predictive value (PPV) between groups were compared. The sensitivity, specificity and PPV for each reagent under different screening threshold (screening threshold for routine detection, optimal screening threshold, and corresponding screening threshold of the highest PPV) were analyzed. The group with low PPV were stratified by ELISA S/CO values, and PPV by different screening threshold was compared. Results There were 939 reactive samples (0.49%, 937/191 627). Confirmed by RIBA, the positive rate of anti-HCV reactive samples was 10.67%(100/937). Two samples were sole HCV RNA reactive (0.001%). Both anti-HCV+ HCV RNA reactive samples were 6.71%(63/939), with the PPV of 96.83%(61/63). Sole anti-HCV reactive samples were 93.08(874/939), with the PPV of 4.46%(39/874), among which PPV by dual and one ELISA reagent were 18.72% and 0.15%, respectively, showing statistically significant difference (P

Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV) assays have been performed in most laboratories using a variety of analytical methods with different reagents for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening1-2. The purpose of this study was to develop an EQA program for dual HBsAg and anti-HCV serological testing to ensure the accuracy and reliability of serological assays. A serum panel of 12 samples containing three negative, three positives for each virus and three positives for both of HBsAg and anti-HCV. These panels were distributed to 102 laboratories in the South of Vietnam. They were required to report their results and any problems encountered on EQA panel. The results show that performance of HBsAg and anti-HCV tests is not only different in terms of method used but also in the types of biological products. Rapid tests (RTs) to detect HBsAg and anti-HCV were most commonly used to screen for HBV and HCV in laboratories. The coincidence rates of RTs for HBsAg and anti-HCV serological assays were 88.24% and 89.86% respectively, while electrochemiluminescence (ECLs) and chemiluminescent immunoassays (CLIAs), Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed the best performance for both HBsAg and anti-HCV testing. The most challenging was failed to detect weak positive samples. In conclusion, the differences in test results within and between groups of HBsAg and anti-HCV assay methods indicated a need to improve test conditions at laboratories in Viet Nam.

Universal hepatitis C screening in pregnancy is not recommended by NICE due to a lack of effective interventions to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT) and is only offered to pregnant women at increased risk of infection (intra‐venous drug use [IVDU] or with a HCV positive family member). No testing is offered to patients from high endemic areas. However, data regarding true seroprevalence in multi‐ethnic inner‐city populations in the UK are required. This study aimed to determine test positivity rates of HCV infection in an unselected South East London ethnically diverse population of pregnant women by universal screening during routine antenatal care compared with a "targeted" screening approach. "Targeted" risk‐based screening was performed in two eras (2016, n = 1002) and subsequently in 2018, after modifying the HCV risk questionnaire (n = 1122). Universal opt out screening was similarly performed in two eras in 2017 (n = 1012) and again in 2019 (n = 1057). During screening for HBV, HIV and syphilis, anti‐HCV was tested, followed by an iterative HCV RNA test in those positive for anti‐HCV. All anti‐HCV‐positive women were referred to the specialist hepatology service, and testing was offered to all family members. All HCV RNA‐positive patients were followed during pregnancy and post‐delivery period and were offered treatment. All infants of HCV RNA‐positive mothers were linked to care with paediatric team. In the 2016 "targeted" screening cohort 212/1002 had a risk of BBV (blood borne viral) infection and (0.6%) were anti‐HCV positive and HCV RNA positive. 0.3% patients were newly diagnosed. In the 2017 universal screening cohort, 1012/1038 pregnant women consented to testing. 0.96% were anti‐HCV positive and 0.86% women were HCV RNA positive with 0.67% newly diagnosed. After modification of the risk‐based questionnaire, a second risk‐based targeted cohort were tested in 2018: 342/1122 (31%) were assessed as at risk and were offered an anti‐HCV test. 0.71% were anti‐HCV positive and 0.27% were HCV RNA positive. In the 2019 cohort tested by universal screening, 1049/1057 women were tested and 0.85% tested positive for anti‐HCV, 0.28% women were HCV RNA positive. All newly diagnosed patients were born abroad. All patients had mild liver disease and had normal pregnancies. All patients were treated post‐delivery and achieved SVR. All patients were negative for other BBV infections. In conclusion, the anti‐HCV test positive rate in this ethnically diverse pregnant cohort ranged between 0.96% and 0.6% (whole cohort) but the rate depended upon the era and screening methodology used. Universal screening detected a higher numbers of anti‐HCV positive women during pregnancy, including those not previously aware of their hepatitis C. While there was not significant drop in seroprevalence in pregnant women between 2016 and 2019, we observed that the ratio of HCV RNA positive to anti‐HCV positive women has declined over time, from 0.86% in 2016 (100% HCV RNA+) to 0.28% in 2019 (33% HCV RNA+) for whole cohort probably due to increased HCV treatment rates from 2016. These data have important implications for hepatitis C testing in pregnancy and the appropriate methodology to use for maximal accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) can be cured with oral antivirals. Awareness of CHC is a substantial barrier to the World Health Organization's goal of eradicating HCV by 2030. This study aimed at evaluating CHC awareness among different departments in a Western Black Sea Region University Hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Anti-HCV and HCV RNA test results of all patients admitted to our center for whatever reason and who underwent anti-HCV screening between January 2017 and January 2022 were analyzed. CHC awareness has been defined as the presence of HCV RNA testing for anti-HCV positives. RESULTS: Of the 63,963 patients who underwent anti-HCV testing, anti-HCV positivity was observed in 2%. HCV RNA was tested in 647 (48.8%) patients who had tested positive for anti-HCV. The HCV RNA was positive in 212 (32.7%) patients tested. Only 66 (29.7%) of those with positive HCV RNA test results had received antiviral therapy. The distribution of HCV RNA testing rates for patients with positive anti-HCV by different departments were as follows: 33% (n=78/232) in medical inpatient clinics, 78% (n=539/685) in medical outpatient clinics, 7% (n=16/223) in surgical inpatient clinics, 7% (n=14/183) in surgical outpatient clinics, and 0% in the emergency department. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of anti-HCV positivity in our region was 2%. Less than half of the patients tested for anti-HCV had HCV RNA testing, and less than a third of the HCV RNA-positive patients received antiviral therapy. To meet the WHO's HCV eradication target by 2030, it is necessary to increase physicians' awareness of CHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Viral hepatitis infections, including hepatitis B and C, and HIV represent an important public health problem worldwide. In this study, we aimed to investigate the seropositivity of HBsAg, Anti-HBs, Anti-HCV, and Anti-HIV in patients who applied to our hospital between 2019 and 2021. Methods: In this study, the frequency of HBsAg, Anti-HBs, total Anti-HCV and anti-HIV in patients admitted to our hospital between January-2019-January 2021 was evaluated retrospectively. Results: HBsAg positivity was determined as 3.28% in a total of 52420 patients. HBsAg positivity was found to be 4.12% (95%CI: 3.9-4.3) in males, whereas 2.67% (95%CI 2.56-2.78) in females. There was a statistically significant relationship between HBsAg positivity and gender and age (p<0.001). Anti-HBs level of 54.9% of the patients (95%CI: 44.6-45.6) was found to be sufficient for immunity (Anti-HBs >10 mIU / ml). While this rate was found to be 61.04% (95%CI: 60.5-61.5) in males, it was found to be 50.37% (95%CI: 50-50.7) in females. A significant relationship was found between Anti-HBs positivity and gender and age (p<0.001). General Anti-HCV positivity was found as 0.11% (95%CI: 0.09-1.01). There was significant relationship between age groups for anti-HCV positivity (p<0.001), whereas the relationship for gender was not significant (p=0.934). There was no statistically significant relationship between anti-HIV positivity and age (p=0.307) and gender (p=0.999). Anti-HIV positivity was determined as 0.3? (95%CI: 0.01-1.05). Conclusion: As a result, viral hepatitis is an important health problem around the world and for our city. Vaccination, infection control programs, and public education can reduce the risk of new infections. Anti-HIV positivity was found to be very low in our city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To fight against hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic in Egypt, it is crucial to understand the actual HCV situation. Hospitals have been accused as being an epicenter for sustained HCV spread in Egypt. Health care workers (HCWs) as well as patients admitted to hospitals are at special risk of acquiring HCV infection compared to the general population. Aim: To compare between the occurrence of hepatitis C in hospital personnel and patients at a general hospital in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate with reference to associated risk factors among both groups. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January through December 2018 on 203 hospital personnel and 197 patients admitted to Desouk General Hospital in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate, Egypt. A questionnaire for socio-demographic characteristics and HCV risk factors was filled for each participant. For HCWs, questions on occupational exposure were added. A blood sample was withdrawn from each participant to be tested for anti-HCV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. Results: The occurrence of anti-HCV among patients was significantly higher than among hospital personnel (18.8% vs 9.4%). Old age, low level of education, rural residence and living in bad housing conditions were significantly associated with anti-HCV positivity among both hospital personnel and patients. However, other parameters as male sex, insufficient income, illicit drug use (IDU), hemodialysis, blood transfusion, hospital admission and receiving any drug by injection or infusion were significant risk parameters for anti-HCV positivity among patients only. Conclusion: The occurrence of HCV in Egypt was substantially high among studied patients. Thus, continuous monitoring and screening of Egyptians are recommended especially after the implementation of the initiative of 100 Million Healthy Lives for HCV control.

Copyright of Journal of Tepecik Education & Research Hospital / İzmir Tepecik Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Dergisi is the property of Logos Medical Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hepatitis is a liver illness caused by virus such as hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis B and C are considerably more usual and induce more cirrhosis and dead worldwide than hepatitis A. Although drugs that are currently often used in the medication of hepatitis B and C, the finding of recent drug from various resources including herbal has been intensively developed. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to consider the possibility of plant’s compounds as anti-HBV and anti-HCV. From the results of a review of several articles, several plant’s compound have shown effectiveness againts HBV and HCV by in silico, in vitro and in vivo studies. In conclusion, several plant’s active compounds are possibility to be developed as anti-hepatitis B and C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of MN Opthalmology / MN Oftalmoloji is the property of Medical Network and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Background Hepatitis B and C infections and transmission are a serious challenge to all healthcare systems. We studied seroprevalence rates of Transfusion Transmitted Diseases (TTD) among blood bank donors in Jordan from 2014 to 2019 as a follow-up study of our previously published work. In addition, we wanted to explore the efficacy of the mandatory vaccination of infants against hepatitis B virus (HBV) which was implemented by the Ministry of Health since 1995 for the eradication of HBV infection in Jordan. Methods We reviewed blood bank donors’ records at King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) from January 1st, 2014, until December 31st, 2019. Results of seropositivity prevalence rates for HBsAg, anti-HBcore, and anti-HCV, using Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) were compared to seropositivity rates from our previously published data. In addition, our results were compared to data obtained from other blood banks in Jordan, as well as compared to published information from blood banks in neighboring countries. Results The prevalence rates (%) of seropositive blood donors for viral hepatitis for the years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, were as follows: HBsAg rates were 0.3386, 0.2108, 0.1801, 0.1898, 0.2068, and 0.2741; anti-HBcore rates were 4.1112, 3.2271, 2.9748, 2.8405, 2.6879 and 3.0986; and anti-HCV rates were 0.1129, 0.0486, 0.0548, 0.0654, 0.0782, and 0.0839, respectively. There was a significant increase in the prevalence of HBsAg, Anti-HBcore and Anti-HCV antibodies in 2019 (one sample z-score test, p

Objective: We aimed to determine the cutoff value of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the diagnosis of real positive patients based on the chemiluminescence immunoassay (CIA) test kit absorbance routinely used in our laboratory and to reveal the potential cost-effectiveness of confirmatory tests for false-positive samples. Methods: All anti-HCV CIA test results between 2016 and 2019 were retrospectively screened and sample/cutoff (S/Co) values of the patients were recorded. Among these, the results that were confirmed with HCV RNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test were included. Results: Of the 257 patients included in the study, 84 (32.68%) were positive for HCV RNA. The optimal S/Co value was 8.58 with sensitivity and specificity values being 95.24% and 85.55%, respectively. According to this 8.58 S/Co value, the anti-HCV test was reactive in 105 cases and 80 (76.2%) of these cases had active HCV infection. To prevent false negativity, the additional cost of using 1.0 S/Co value to our institution was 4114.64 USD. In our institution, approximately 6.25 working hours is spent to finalize the HCV RNA PCR test. The hours spent for S/Co of 1.0 and 8.58 was 1606.25 and 658.25, respectively. Conclusion: False-positive anti-HCV results are an economic burden on countries. At least, different S/Co values might be used in accordance with the purpose of screening and prevalence of HCV infection in different laboratories and different populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of people worldwide suffer from acute or chronic liver inflammation caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Metal ion chelators have achieved widespread success in the development of antiviral drugs. Some inhibitors with metal ion chelating structures have been proven to have good inhibitory activities on non-structural protein 5B (NS5B) polymerase. However, most of the reported metal ion chelators showed poor anti-HCV potency at the cellular level. Hence, we designed and synthesized a series of 3-hydroxyquinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-dione derivatives with novel metal ion chelating structures. Typical compounds such as 21h, 21k, and 21t showed better anti-HCV activities than ribavirin with EC50 values less than 10 μM. 21t is currently known as one of the metal ion chelators with the best anti-HCV potency (EC50 = 2.0 μM) at the cellular level and has a better therapeutic index (TI > 25) as compared to ribavirin and the reported compound 6. In the thermal shift assay, the representative compounds 21e and 21k increased the melting temperature (Tm) of NS5B protein solution by 1.6 °C and 2.1 °C, respectively, at the test concentration, indicating that these compounds may exert an anti-HCV effect by targeting NS5B. This speculation was also supported by our molecular docking studies and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry assay, in which the possibility of binding of 3-hydroxyquinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones with Mg2+ in the NS5B catalytic center was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Viral Hepatitis Journal / Viral Hepatit Dergisi is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction This study aimed to reveal the utility of age-platelet (AP) index and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio (AAR), which are non-invasive markers, in patients with chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in prediction of fibrosis and evaluate whether viral markers could be used for that purpose or not. Methods A total of treatment-naïve 49 patients with chronic HCV who underwent liver biopsy were included in this retrospective study. Anti-HCV S/CO and HCV-RNA viral load (copy/ml) values measured simultaneously with biopsy were determined. AP index and AAR score were calculated and compared. Results Staging of liver biopsy samples of 49 HCV patients was assessed. Comparable diagnostic accuracies of AP index and AAR in prediction of significant fibrosis (F≥2) were showed with ROC curve analysis. The areas under the ROC (AUROCs) were 0.713 and 0.506 respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of API in prediction of significant fibrosis was superior to that of AAR (p=0.03). AUROC of HCV-RNA viral load in prediction of F≥2 was 0.531. Anti-HCV S/CO value (AUROC=0.464) was not found as a suitable marker in prediction of fibrosis. Conclusions AP index, AAR score and HCV viral load among non-invasive markers assessed in this study were useful in predicting significant fibrosis. Especially API was the most useful test in predicting significant fibrosis. AP index can be preferred in patients with near normal ALT values.

Objective: To evaluate the antiviral activity and phytochemicals of selected plant extracts and their effect on the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway modulated by hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A). Methods: A total of ten plant extracts were initially screened for their toxicities against HepG2 cells. The non-toxic plants were tested for their inhibitory effect on the expression of HCV NS5A at both mRNA and protein levels using real-time PCR and Western blotting assays, respectively. The differential expression of the genes associated with MAPK pathway in the presence of NS5A gene and plant extract was measured through real-time PCR. Subsequently, the identification of secondary metabolites was carried out by phytochemical and HPLC analysis. Results: The phytochemical profiling of Berberis lyceum revealed the presence of alkaloids, phenols, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, carbohydrates, terpenoids, steroids, and glycosides. Similarly, quercetin, myricetin, gallic acid, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid were identified through HPLC analysis. The methanolic extract of Berberis lyceum strongly inhibited HCV RNA replication with an IC50 of 11.44 µg/mL. RT-PCR and Western blotting assays showed that the extract reduced the expression of HCV NS5A in a dose- dependent manner. Berberis lyceum extract also attenuated NS5A- induced dysregulation of the MAPK signaling pathway. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that Berberis lyceum extract strongly inhibits HCV propagation by reducing HCV NS5A- induced perturbation of MAPK signaling.

Remarkable scientific breakthroughs have been made in the stride towards the development of potent and tolerable hepatitis C regimens within the last three decades. Earlier approaches involved the use of pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin as standard-of-care treatment. Treating genotype 1a infection with this regimen which was at that time considered the gold standard for hepatitis C virus therapy was rife with challenges; safety and toxicity issues necessitated a rigorous quest for alternative regimens. Deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus ushered in the era of direct acting antiviral agents. These agents have been the subject of intensive research in the last two decades, leading to the development of drug classes such as protease inhibitors (e.g., grazoprevir), NS5A inhibitors (e.g., daclatasvir) and NS5B inhibitors (e.g., sofosbuvir). While many are still under development, several have been approved for hepatitis C therapy. A number of studies investigating the combination of direct acting antiviral agents with or without pegylated interferon and/or ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis have demonstrated sustained virologic response of > 90%. Given the array of direct acting antiviral agents currently available, the present landscape of hepatitis C therapy is now characterized by a gradual transition to all-oral interferon-free regimens. Despite these milestones, the WHO global target of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health problem by 2030 seems uncertain. In this review, we provide a concise account of the evolution and advancements in the development of anti-HCV regimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sofosbuvir is a direct‐acting antiviral drug that inhibits hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5B polymerase, which in turn affects the virus replication inside biological systems. The clinical importance of sofosbuvir is based not only on its effect on HCV but also on other lethal viruses such as Zika and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS‐COVID‐19). Accordingly, there is a continuous shedding of light on the development and validation of accurate and fast analytical methods for the determination of sofosbuvir in different environments. This work critically reviews the recent advances in chromatographic methods for the analysis of sofosbuvir and/or its metabolites in pure samples, pharmaceutical dosage forms, and in the presence of other co‐administered drugs to highlight the current status and future perspectives to enhance its determination in different matrixes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Viral seromarkers are expressed in the serum or plasma to indicate viral infection while chronic viral infections may lead to organ failures and also kidneys have receptors as a point of entry for some viruses. This work was therefore designed to characterize viral seromarkers in patients with elevated plasma creatinine of ≥ 3.5mg/dl to determine the possible contribution of viral infections to renal disease as elevated creatinine is an index of renal disease. Materials and Methods: The study population included 62 patients aged 41 – 75 years with elevated plasma creatinine of 3.9± 0.4 mg/dl as test subjects and 100 age-matched volunteers with normal plasma creatinine of 0.8±0.2mg/dl as control subjects. Anti-HCV, HBsAg, HBeAg, and HIV; HIVp24Ag/Ab were determined in the subjects by ELISA while plasma creatinine was measured by spectrophotometry. Results: The viral seromarkers obtained in the subjects include:14.5%(09) Anti-HCV; 4.8%(03) p24Ag/Ab; 22.3%(14) HBsAg and 25%(16) HBeAb in the patients with plasma creatinine of 3.9 ± 0.4 mg/dl while 5%(05) Anti-HCV; 2%(02) p24Ag/Ab ; 12%(12) HBsAg and 18%(18) HBeAb were obtained in subjects with plasma creatinine of 0.8±0.2mg/dl. Conclusions: There was a significant relationship between viral infection and renal disease (suggested by elevated plasma creatinine) as the expression of viral seromarkers of antiHCV, HBsAg, HBeAg, and HIV; HIVp24Ag/Ab in this work were more in patients with plasma creatinine of 3.9 ± 0.4 mg/dl than subjects with plasma creatinine of 0.8±0.2mg/dl while HBsAg and HBeAg were found to be more frequent.

Abstract Objective The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is typically evaluated based on the current rate of positivity of anti-HCV antibody; however, HCV RNA positivity is considered the main criterion for antiviral treatment of HCV infection in the clinical setting. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of HCV infection based on anti-HCV and HCV RNA detection in the population of Liaoning Province, and investigated the correlation between serum HCV RNA positivity and anti-HCV levels. Methods A total of 192,202 patients who underwent serum anti-HCV examination at Shengjing Hospital in 2018 were enrolled in the study. Anti-HCV production was tested using a chemiluminescence assay, and serum HCV RNA detection was performed with Roche COBAS TaqMan (CTM) Analyzer. Results The prevalence of anti-HCV was 1.21 and 0.93% among male and female patients in Liaoning Province, respectively. The positive rates of anti-HCV and serum anti-HCV levels were both age-related, in which patients over 40 years of age had a significantly higher anti-HCV positive rate than those younger than 40 years. Among the anti-HCV-positive patients, the average HCV RNA positive rate was 51.66 and 35.93% in males and females, respectively. Spearman rank analysis showed a significantly positive correlation between serum HCV RNA positivity and the level of anti-HCV. The best cut-off value using serum anti-HCV levels to predict the positivity of HCV RNA was determined to be 9.19 signal-to-cut-off ratio (s/co) in males and 10.18 s/co in females. Conclusion The prevalence of anti-HCV in the general population of Liaoning Province was around 1.04%, which was higher than that previously reported from a national survey of HCV infection in China. Approximately 42.9% of the anti-HCV-positive patients also tested positive for HCV RNA. However, the positive correlation between the serum anti-HCV and HCV RNA levels suggests that the positivity of serum HCV RNA can be predicted according to the anti-HCV level in anti-HCV-positive patients, which can improve screening and facilitate timely intervention to prevent the spread of infection.

Objectives. This study aimed to determine patterns of respiratory, blood-borne and uropathogenic microbial pathogens among SARS-CoV-2-infected patients in a COVID-19-(coronavirus disease 2019) dedicated tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Design. This was a cross-sectional study. Setting. In a COVID-19-dedicated tertiary care hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, conducted from March to June 2021. Participants. Hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 infection regardless of age or sex. Primary and secondary outcome measures. The percentage of co-infected COVID-19 patients and the characterization of the micro-organisms responsible for co-infection served as the primary outcome measures. Finding any associations between co-infection and age, co-infection and sex and co-infection and comorbidity was the secondary outcome variable. Interventions. Not applicable. Results. Out of 79 patients, 61 % were male, and the mean age was 49.53 years. Co-infection was seen in 7.7 % of patients, out of which 5.1 % of isolates were from urine samples, followed by 2.6 % from blood. Bacteria isolated from urine were Enterococcus (2.6 %), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CONS) (1.3 %) and Enterobacter spp. (1.3 %). Pseudomonas spp. was the only organism isolated from blood sample. Mixed growth was found in nasopharyngeal and throat swabs, with the predominant species being Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus spp. At the time of data collection, 55.7 % of patients had been given antimicrobials, and 30.4 % of patients had been given a single antimicrobial. HBsAg was positive in 1.3 % of patients and none were anti-hepatitis C or dengue NS1Ag positive. Conclusion. Microbial infection has been seen to be associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections and is of great value in prescribing antimicrobials and reducing fatal outcomes of hospitalized patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors.)

Objective: Medical staff working in surgical branches are at serious risk for HBV, HCV and HIV infections. The aim of this study is to retrospectively determine the preoperative HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV seroprevalence in surgical patients of our hospital in the Eastern Anatolian Region of Turkey. Methods: Preoperative HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV seroprevalence of 9720 patients who were hospitalized for surgery between January 2017 and November 2018 were researched retrospectively. Results: 3976 (40.9%) of the preoperative patients were female and 5744 (59.1%) were male. Anti-HIV negative was found in all patients, whereas HBsAg positivity was detected in 194 (2%) patients and anti-HCV positivity was found in 68 (0.7%) patients. HBsAg positivity was found in 48 (1.2%) of female patients, 146 (2.5%) of male patients. In terms of anti-HCV, 25 (0.6%) of female patients and 43 (0.7%) of male patients were positive. Maximum positivities was observed at 51-60 age range whereas minimum positivity was at 11-20 age range. Conclusion: Although the results of our study, in which more patient results were evaluated compared to similar studies in terms of number, were similar to those in other studies; HBsAg rates were slightly lower in our study, and it was related to the overall decline of HBV infections as a result of vaccination. Regardless of regional seroprevalances of HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV, it should be taken into consideration that the disease could be at window phase, so all patients must be accepted as vectors and medical staff must take extra personal precautions during surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug repurposing is an important approach to the assignment of already approved drugs for new indications. This technique bypasses some steps in the traditional drug approval system, which saves time and lives in the case of pandemics. Direct acting antivirals (DAAs) have repeatedly repurposed from treating one virus to another. In this study, 16 FDA-approved hepatitis C virus (HCV) DAA drugs were studied to explore their activities against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) human and viral targets. Among the 16 HCV DAA drugs, telaprevir has shown the best in silico evidence to work on both indirect human targets (cathepsin L [CTSL] and human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 [hACE2] receptor) and direct viral targets (main protease [Mpro]). Moreover, the docked poses of telaprevir inside both hACE2 and Mpro were subjected to additional molecular dynamics simulations monitored by calculating the binding free energy using MM-GBSA. In vitro analysis of telaprevir showed inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication in cell culture (IC50 = 11.552 μM, CC50 = 60.865 μM, and selectivity index = 5.27). Accordingly, based on the in silico studies and supported by the presented in vitro analysis, we suggest that telaprevir may be considered for therapeutic development against SARS-CoV-2.

Background: To fight against hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic in Egypt, it is crucial to understand the actual HCV situation. Hospitals have been accused as being an epicenter for sustained HCV spread in Egypt. Health care workers (HCWs) as well as patients admitted to hospitals are at special risk of acquiring HCV infection compared to the general population. Aim: To compare between the occurrence of hepatitis C in hospital personnel and patients at a general hospital in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate with reference to associated risk factors among both groups. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January through December 2018 on 203 hospital personnel and 197 patients admitted to Desouk General Hospital in Kafr Elsheikh Governorate, Egypt. A questionnaire for socio-demographic characteristics and HCV risk factors was filled for each participant. For HCWs, questions on occupational exposure were added. A blood sample was withdrawn from each participant to be tested for anti-HCV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. Results: The occurrence of anti-HCV among patients was significantly higher than among hospital personnel (18.8% vs 9.4%). Old age, low level of education, rural residence and living in bad housing conditions were significantly associated with anti-HCV positivity among both hospital personnel and patients. However, other parameters as male sex, insufficient income, illicit drug use (IDU), hemodialysis, blood transfusion, hospital admission and receiving any drug by injection or infusion were significant risk parameters for anti-HCV positivity among patients only. Conclusion: The occurrence of HCV in Egypt was substantially high among studied patients. Thus, continuous monitoring and screening of Egyptians are recommended especially after the implementation of the initiative of 100 Million Healthy Lives for HCV control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Viral Hepatitis Journal / Viral Hepatit Dergisi is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Infectious agents and chemical substances can trigger the production and the release of cytokines. To determine the pattern of infectious agents in herbal homes patients with elevated TNFα (≥ 5.0 pg/ml) in Saki – West-Nigeria. The subjects include patients with elevated TNFα (≥ 5.0 pg/ml) in 15 herbal homes(n=23 ; aged 5-69 years; males – 13 ; females – 10) and patients with elevated TNFα in 3 major hospitals (n = 32; aged 6 -67years; males – 12 ; females - 20). Plasma TNFα, anti-HCV, HBsAg and HIV1-p24 antigen were determined by ELISA, Plasmodium spp., by Giemsa thick film staining and Acid Fast Bacilli by Ziehl-Nelson staining. The frequency of infectious agents obtained in the patients include 4.3 %(1) anti-HCV; 17.4% (4) HBsAg; 4.3 %(1) HIV1-p24 antigen; 17.4% (4) Plasmodium spp.; 8.7 %(2) Acid Fast Bacilli and 4.3 %(1) HBsAg + Plasmodium spp., in patients of herbal homes and 6.3 %(2) anti-HCV; 9.4% (3) HBsAg; 3.1 %(1) HIV1-p24 antigen; 15.6% (6)Plasmodium spp., 0%(0) Acid Fast Bacilli and 3.1 %(1) HBsAg + Plasmodium spp., in patients of the three major hospitals. The frequency of those with 5.0 – 6,0 pg/ml TNFα (65.2% (15)) was more than those whose TNFα was between 6.1 – 6.8 pg/ml (34.8% (8) in herbal home patients while the frequency of those with 5.0 – 6,0 pg/ml TNFα (40.6%(13)) was lower than those whose TNFα was between 6.1 – 6.8 pg/ml (59.4% (19)) in hospital patients. The pattern of the infectious agents was more in herbal home patients with 5.0 – 6,0 pg/ ml TNFα than those with 6.1 – 6, 8 pg/ml TNFα while in hospital patients it was more in those with 6.1 – 6,8 pg/ml TNFα than those with 5.0 – 6,0 pg/ml TNFα. The overall frequency of the infectious agents was more in herbal homes patients (58.5%(13)) than 37.5%(12) obtained in hospital patients. The frequency of viral immunochemical biomarkers, Acid Fast Bacilli and Plasmodium spp., was more in herbal home patients than the patients recruited from the hospital which varies with the TNFα range.

Aim: In this study, we aimed to detect the seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in patients undergoing ocular surgery. Materials and Methods: HBsAg, anti-HCV, and HIVtestresults of patients who were admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology of the Karabuk University Training and Research Hospital between March 2016 and April 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. HBsAg (Abbott Diagnostics, USA), anti-HCV(Abbott Diagnostics, USA) and HIV Ag/Ab Combo tests (Abbott Diagnostics, USA) were assessed by chemiluminescence microparticleenzymeimmunoassaymethod byusingAbbottDiagnosticskits andARCHITECT i2000 SR (Abbott Diagnostics, USA) immunoassayanalyzer. Patients were divided into four groups according to age: 20–39, 40–59, 60–79, and 80 years old and above. Seropositive patients were evaluated in terms of the surgical method applied. Results: Of 1504 patients included in the study, 768 (51%) were men and 736 (49%) were women, and the mean age was 70 years. HBsAg positivity was 0.79% (12/1504) and anti-HCV positivity was 2.06% (31/1504). HIV Ag/Ab Combo was negative in all patients. There were no HBsAg and anti-HCV-positive patients in the 20–39 years age group, whereasone HBsAg (0.06%) and twoanti-HCV (0.13%) positivity in the 40–59 years age group and11 HBsAg (0.73%) and 23 anti-HCV (1.52%) positivity in the 60–79 years age group were detected. Although HBsAg was negative in all patients over 80 years old, anti-HCV was positive in 6(0.39%) patients. Further, eight of 12 HBsAg-positive patients underwent cataracts surgery and four lacrimal canal surgery, and 24 of 31 anti-HCVpositive patients underwent cataracts surgery, five lacrimal canal surgery, and two eyelid surgery. Conclusion: All patients should be tested for HBsAg, anti-HCV, and HIV preoperatively. Seropositive patients should be informed about viral hepatitis and should be referred to the infectious diseases department. Necessary precautions should be taken to prevent contamination to healthcare professionals and other patients during operation and medical care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatitis B and C infections and transmission are a serious challenge to all healthcare systems. We studied seroprevalence rates of Transfusion Transmitted Diseases (TTD) among blood bank donors in Jordan from 2014 to 2019 as a follow-up study of our previously published work. In addition, we wanted to explore the efficacy of the mandatory vaccination of infants against hepatitis B virus (HBV) which was implemented by the Ministry of Health since 1995 for the eradication of HBV infection in Jordan.Methods: We reviewed blood bank donors' records at King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) from January 1st, 2014, until December 31st, 2019. Results of seropositivity prevalence rates for HBsAg, anti-HBcore, and anti-HCV, using Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) were compared to seropositivity rates from our previously published data. In addition, our results were compared to data obtained from other blood banks in Jordan, as well as compared to published information from blood banks in neighboring countries.Results: The prevalence rates (%) of seropositive blood donors for viral hepatitis for the years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, were as follows: HBsAg rates were 0.3386, 0.2108, 0.1801, 0.1898, 0.2068, and 0.2741; anti-HBcore rates were 4.1112, 3.2271, 2.9748, 2.8405, 2.6879 and 3.0986; and anti-HCV rates were 0.1129, 0.0486, 0.0548, 0.0654, 0.0782, and 0.0839, respectively. There was a significant increase in the prevalence of HBsAg, Anti-HBcore and Anti-HCV antibodies in 2019 (one sample z-score test, p < 0.00001).Conclusions: Prevalence rates of hepatitis B and C infections among Jordanian blood bank donors showed a steady decline between 2009 and 2017, and these rates were much lower in Jordan than in neighboring countries. However, an increase in the prevalence rates of hepatitis B and C infections among blood bank donors was documented in 2019. While the reasons for this increase are not clear yet, these findings highlight the importance of renewed efforts to increase public health awareness of HBV and implement effective measures to prevent the transmission and infection with HBV, including national vaccination programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In a country like Pakistan, a high prevalence of HCV persists due to a lack of awareness among the masses and the absence of adequate medical facilities in less privileged areas. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a risk-based screening tool based on the identification of predictive factors for HCV in the adult population in Karachi, Pakistan, which can later be validated for implementation. Methodology: A case-control study design was adopted and data was collected through an interview-based questionnaire from among 284 patients visiting the Family Medicine Department at The Indus Hospital, Karachi on whom the anti-HCV antibody test was conducted. Received data was then entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Result: Analysis indicated that in the entire cohort, marital status, employment status, history of being operated on in the past, family history of HCV infection, and body piercing were the factors significantly associated with positive HCV antibody. Results thus achieved show that the anti-HCV-positive rate was higher in ever married, employed, having had surgery, and family history of HCV infection (aOR: 2.42, 3.5, 2.04 and 2.5, P = 0.043, 0.002, 0.011 and 0.005, respectively). Conclusions: It is concluded that future research may be conducted enrolling the heterogeneous population to further probe the HCV burden and incidence in our society to initiate educational purposes. This goal can be achieved through commercial advertisements and free public lectures for disease prevention and better health awareness among the masses and the curers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: A goal of the World Health Organization's global hepatitis strategy is the elimination of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by 2030. As part of its strategy, the Federal Joint Committee (Germany) decided to include hepatitis B and C screening in a preventive medical examination, which is performed at the primary care level in Germany. We investigated the results 1 year after implementation of screening between October 2021 and September 2022., Methods: HBsAg/HBV DNA and anti-HCV/HCV RNA screenings were identified by billing categories in 286,192 individuals of 11 ambulatory healthcare centers., Results: Compared to 30,106 HBsAg and 31,266 anti-HCV laboratory requisitions in the year 2018, the number of tests increased to 286,192 during the screening period. Compared to routine care, additional anti-HCV positive tests age dependently increased the tally by 98% (177 plus 170 positive cases in males) and 123% (96 plus 118 positive cases in females) in those aged 35-44 years up to 518% (17 plus 88 positive cases in males) and 514% (29 plus 149 positive cases in females) in those aged 75-84 years. Similar results were observed for HBsAg. Prevalences of HBsAg, anti-HCV and HCV RNA were 0.54%, 0.79% and 0.13%, respectively., Conclusions: A structured hepatitis screening program at the primary care level has been successfully established and leads to age- and-sex-dependent large additional effects compared to routine care., Impact and Implications: Strategies to eliminate chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection are country specific and vary between clinical scenarios. Our analysis proves the efficacy of a screening program by primary care physicians compared to routine care in a low-prevalence country. This program should be accompanied by additional efforts in risk populations like people who inject drugs who are under-represented in the current screening approach., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Aim of the study: To determine the anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) positivity in our region and to evaluate physician awareness of HCV among different inpatient and outpatient departments in a tertiary reference center in Turkey. Material and methods: This retrospective study was conducted between January 2017 and January 2020. The patients tested for anti-HCV for any reason were enrolled from the data of all patients admitted to our hospital, which is the reference center of the region. Results: A total of 121,492 anti-HCV assays were screened from the computerized database. Total number of patients with a positive anti-HCV result was 891 (0.81%). HCV RNA was positive in 147 (16.5%) of 891 patients and negative in 389 (43.7%) patients. Unfortunately HCV RNA was not tested in 355 (39.8%) patients. The percentages of the untested patients regarding the departments were 65.38% (n = 85/130) in medical inpatient clinics, 61.02% (n = 72/118) in surgical clinics, 16.67% (n = 88/528) medical outpatient departments, 96.8% (n = 91/94) in surgical outpatient departments, and 90.5% (n = 19/21) in the emergency department. Conclusions: The prevalence of anti-HCV positivity was found to be 0.81% and was stable in Turkey. However, the level of physician awareness for HCV was unsatisfactory, and differed between departments. Because HCV is commonly asymptomatic, positive patients should not be overlooked and adequate treatment should be administered. Awareness of physicians should be increased to prevent delays in the diagnosis of hepatitis C and to reduce the number of untreated patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a major health problem, which infects approximately 170 million people among worldwide population. Moreover, there is no vaccine available to prevent HCV infection and the current anti-HCV drugs have not covered all the various genotypes and subtypes. Meanwhile, medicinal plants have been widely used to treat a variety of infectious disease. Our previous study reported that ethanol extract of Melicope latifolia has been shown to exert anti-HCV activity towards a number of different virus genotypes with mainly inhibition mechanism at the entry step. Further separation was needed to purify and identify the active anti-HCV constituent using bioactivity-guided isolation method. Materials and Methods: In vitro Anti-HCV assay was performed using hepatocyte cell line (Huh7it) and HCV genotype 2a (JFH1). The purification of M. latifolia ethanol extract (B1F) was done by liquid-liquid fractionation, vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The active fraction was further identified by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and the major constituent was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra data analysis. Results: The fractionation of M. latifolia leaves ethanol extract resulted an alkaloid fraction (B1F D2H.3) containing a major constituent N-methylflindersine. This alkaloid fraction was active to reduce HCV JFH1 with an inhibition concentration (IC50) value of 6.21 μg/mL, a cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) value of 82.64 μg/mL, and a selectivity index value of 13.31. Conclusion: An alkaloid fraction of M. latifolia (B1F D2H.3) was known to have major compound named N-methylflindersine. This alkaloid fraction exhibited strong anti-HCV against JFH1 in vitro. The results indicated that this alkaloid fraction may a good candidate for anti-HCV agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The replicon system, which mimics viral genome replication in culture cells, has been widely used to analyze the genome replication of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, most HCV genomes used in the system include adaptive mutations (AMs) that are vital for replication in culture cells despite the nonexistence of such mutations in the genome of wild‐type (WT) HCV in patients. In order to study the genome replications of WT HCV, new HCV subgenomic replicon (SGR) systems were established using Huh‐7.5‐derived cells producing Sec14‐like protein 2 constitutively and SGR of KT9 (one of the HCV genotype 1b clones) with WT genome (SGR KT9WT) in this study. The replication efficiency and sensitivities of SGR KT9WT to anti‐HCV drugs in the cloned cells permanently bearing replicon RNA, HS55‐4 cells, were similar to those of reports using SGR, including AM. The SGR transient transfection system using SGR KT9WT and SGR KT9AM encoding secreted Nano‐luciferase and HS55‐4C cells established by the elimination of SGR KT9 RNA from HS55‐4 cells, however, showed that the replication efficiency of SGR KT9WT was much lower than that of SGR KT9AM under a same condition. Furthermore, the sensitivities of SGR KT9WT to almost all tested anti‐HCV reagents, except the inhibitor of miR‐122, a cellular factor important for HCV replication, were quite low compared with SGR KT9AM. These results suggested that the new replicon systems might not only provide information about precise responses against new anti‐HCV drugs but also reveal novel molecular mechanisms supporting negligent proliferation of HCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is typically evaluated based on the current rate of positivity of anti-HCV antibody; however, HCV RNA positivity is considered the main criterion for antiviral treatment of HCV infection in the clinical setting. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of HCV infection based on anti-HCV and HCV RNA detection in the population of Liaoning Province, and investigated the correlation between serum HCV RNA positivity and anti-HCV levels. Methods: A total of 192,202 patients who underwent serum anti-HCV examination at Shengjing Hospital in 2018 were enrolled in the study. Anti-HCV production was tested using a chemiluminescence assay, and serum HCV RNA detection was performed with Roche COBAS TaqMan (CTM) Analyzer. Results: The prevalence of anti-HCV was 1.21 and 0.93% among male and female patients in Liaoning Province, respectively. The positive rates of anti-HCV and serum anti-HCV levels were both age-related, in which patients over 40 years of age had a significantly higher anti-HCV positive rate than those younger than 40 years. Among the anti-HCV-positive patients, the average HCV RNA positive rate was 51.66 and 35.93% in males and females, respectively. Spearman rank analysis showed a significantly positive correlation between serum HCV RNA positivity and the level of anti-HCV. The best cut-off value using serum anti-HCV levels to predict the positivity of HCV RNA was determined to be 9.19 signal-to-cut-off ratio (s/co) in males and 10.18 s/co in females. Conclusion: The prevalence of anti-HCV in the general population of Liaoning Province was around 1.04%, which was higher than that previously reported from a national survey of HCV infection in China. Approximately 42.9% of the anti-HCV-positive patients also tested positive for HCV RNA. However, the positive correlation between the serum anti-HCV and HCV RNA levels suggests that the positivity of serum HCV RNA can be predicted according to the anti-HCV level in anti-HCV-positive patients, which can improve screening and facilitate timely intervention to prevent the spread of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the frequency of anti-HCV in patients on maintenance haemodialysis (HD) and its association with history of blood transfusion and with the practice of HD from more than one center. Methods: All the patients on maintenance HD at Bahria International hospital (BIH) Rawalpindi from March 2019 to May 2019 were included. Demographic details, history of blood transfusions and history of HD from any other center in addition to BIH, were recorded. Anti-HCV was done by chemiluminescent assay. Chi-square was used to compare the categorical variables. Odds ratio (OR) and relative risk (RR) for the groups exposed to risk were calculated. Results: Of 96 patients, 40 (41.6%) were anti-HCV positive. Sixty--two (64.6%) had transfusion history. Thirty-one (50%) of these 62 were anti--HCV positive as compared to 9 (26.5%) of 34 with no history of transfusion (p=0.025); OR=2.78 (p=0.0278), RR=1.89 (p=0.0420). Among 66(68.7%) of 96 who had HD from other centres in addition to ours, 33(50%) were anti-HCV positive as compared to 7(23.3%) of 23 who had HD from BIH only (p=0.014); OR=3.29 (p=0.0167), RR=2.14 (p=0.0309). Conclusion: There was a high prevalence (41.6%) of anti-HCV in our HD patients and anti-HCV positivity had significant association with history of blood transfusion as well as with history of HD from multiple centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giriş: Hepatit C virüsü (HCV), Flaviviridae ailesindeki Hepacivirus cinsine ait küçük, zarflı, tek sarmallı, pozitif iplikçikli bir RNA virüsüdür. HCV, fibroz, kronik hepatit, siroz ve hepatosellüler karsinomun (HCC) etiyolojisinde en önemli risk faktörü olan kalıcı bir enfeksiyona neden olur. Dünya çapında yaklaşık 71 milyon kişinin HCV ile enfekte olduğu ve HCV'nin neden olduğu siroz veya HCC nedeniyle her yıl 700.000 kişinin öldüğü tahmin edilmektedir. Türkiye'de anti-HCV seroprevalansının %0,6-1,6 arasında değiştiği bildirilmektedir. Biz bu çalışmada anti-HCV pozitif saptanan hastaların demografik özelliklerini, ileri tetkik edilme ve tedavi oranlarını inceledik. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışmamız retrospektif tanımlayıcı bir çalışmadır. 2023 yılında hastanemizde çalışılan anti-HCV test sonucu pozitif gelen 18 yaş üstü olan hastalar hastane veri tabanından tarandı. Veriler hazırlanan Excel formuna kaydedildi. Sonuçlar yüzde olarak değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Çalışmaya toplam 686 hasta dahil edildi. Hastaların 257'si (%36,8) erkek, 433'ü (%63,2) kadındı. Yaş ortalaması 60,8 idi. Hastaların 107'si (%15,6) yabancı uyruklu, 578'i (84,4) T.C. vatandaşıydı. Toplamda 251 (36,6) hastadan HCV-RNA testi istenmediği, 217 (31,6) hastanın HCV-RNA testinin negatif saptandığı görüldü. HCV-RNA testi pozitif saptanan 222 (%32,4) hastanın 186'sının (%83,7) tedavi aldığı, 11'inin (%4,9) tedavi almadığı görüldü. Yirmi beş (%11,2) hastanın ise tedavi verilerine ulaşılamadı. Tedavi alan hastaların 60'ının (%32,2) glekaprevir + pibrentasvir ile, 53'ünün (%28,9) ombitasvir + paritaprevir + ritonavir + dasabuvir ile, 41'inin (%22) sofosbuvir + ledipasvir ile, 26'sının (%13,9) pegile interferon alfa-2b + ribavirin ile, 6'sının (%3,2) sofosbuvir + velpatasvir + voksilaprevir ile tedavi aldığı saptandı. Sonuç: Önceki çalışmalarda anti-HCV pozitif kişilerin %80'inin HCV-RNA pozitif olduğu bildirilmişse de son yıllarda yapılan çalışmalar bu oranın %50-60 arasında olduğunu göstermektedir. Merkezimizde son 1 yılda RNA ve genotip testinin toplam oranı %64 civarındaydı. İdeal bir kronik hepatit C farkındalığı durumunda, tüm anti-HCV pozitifleri tanı ve tedavi için HCV-RNA testine tabi tutulmalı ve RNA testleri pozitif olduğunda genotipleme yapılarak tedavisi düzenlenmelidir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transfusion-transmissible infections are well-known global health challenges. The present study is proposed to investigate the seropositivity of anti-HIV1/2, anti-HCV, HBsAg, and anti-T.pallidum among volunteer blood donors of Kosti Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. Methods: Our study was conducted in a cross-sectional retrospective manner. The data of donors who attended Kosti Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital throughout 2016 to 2018 were reviewed and retrieved manually from blood bank records. Results: Out of 8139 donors, 22.52% were seropositive for serological markers of TTIs and 1.67% were seropositive for at least two serological markers of TTIs. The overall seropositivity rate of anti-HIV1/2, HBsAg, anti-HCV, and anti-T.pallidum was 1.77%, 6.07%, 1.14%, and 11.87%, respectively (p < 0.000). Anti-T.pallidum was the most frequently detected (p < 0.05) marker across all study variables. TTIs seroprevalence was significantly (p < 0.05) varied according to the age, residence, occupations, and blood groups. Notably, there was a rising trend in the rate of anti-HIV1/2 and seropositivity for more than one marker with age (p < 0.000). Regionally, rural area residents had a higher rate of anti-HIV1/2 (2.20%), HBsAg (6.31%), anti-HCV (1.42%), anti-T.pallidum (18.38%), and multiple markers seropositivity (2.28%) compared to urban areas. Between occupations, the highest rate of anti-HIV1/2 (p = 0.483), HBsAg (p = 0.003), anti-HCV (p = 0.408), anti-T.pallidum (p < 0.000), and multiple markers seropositivity (p < 0.000) were detected in farmers. Regarding the screening, we also found that the frequency of anti-T.pallidum was significantly (p = 0.003) higher in donors who carry the AB+ve blood group, whereas anti-HCV (1.83%) was more frequent in donors carry O−ve blood group (p = 0.255). As seen, anti-T.pallidum+HBsAg was the most frequently (1.22%) co-occurring markers. In contrast, anti-T.pallidum+anti-HIV1/2+HBsAg was the lowest frequency one (p < 0.000). Conclusions: The study showed an alarming rate of TTIs, which suggests the requirement for comprehensive surveillance and health education programs.