One hundred and ninety-six Moroccan Jews now settled in Israel were typed for 7 blood groups, 12 red cell enzymes and 2 plasma protein systems. Their blood group picture is in agreement with results previously obtained on different samples of Moroccan Jews: rather high B in ABO, somewhat elevated frequencies of cDe and cDE in Rh and K in Kell. Differences in various blood markers exist between them and other North African Jewish communities. This fact, together with data on disease distribution and HLA frequencies, supports our assumption that Jews in the North African diaspora lived as small secluded isolates even within the same geographical zones. Comparisons with meager data on the neighboring non-Jewish populations do not disclose any resemblance to either Arab or Berber inhabitants of Morocco.
Israel is suspected to be endemic for hepatitis E virus (HEV) because of its geographic location and the large-scale immigration from endemic countries. Although no cases of local HEV infection have been diagnosed, a serological survey would provide indirect evidence for such infection. We examined sera from 1,416 healthy subjects, including 1,139 Jews from various regions of Israel and 277 Arabs, most of whom reside in the West Bank of the Jordan River. In addition, we tested 13 non-A, non-B, and non-C viral hepatitis patients. Sera were screened for antibody to hepatitis E virus (anti-HEV) by a newly developed enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and by immunoblots for both IgG and IgM anti-HEV activity. Positive samples were confirmed by neutralization. The seroprevalence found by EIA was 2.81% and 1.81% in the Jewish and Arab populations, respectively. More than a 2-fold higher prevalence in males compared to females and an increase with age were found in both populations. However, these differences were nonsignificant. The geographical distribution was even throughout the country, except for two clusters of 3 and 4 seropositive individuals possibly reflecting past foci of infection. Eight of 37 EIA-positive sera were positive for IgG, and 3 were positive for IgM by the immunoblot assay. Among hepatitis patients (9 acute and 4 chronic), one patient with chronic hepatitis was positive for both IgG and IgM. Our study provides indirect evidence that Israel is endemic for HEV.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Transfusion of blood or plasma kept at 4 °C for 12–14 h could be hazardous since about 15% of plasmas from healthy donors undergo cold activation of factor VII under such conditions. In this study we were unable to demonstrate in plasma from 209 healthy donors a significant rise in mean factor VII level after storage of plasma in the blood bank bags at 4 °C for 24 h. The blood bank unfavorable conditions for cold activation of factor VII were manifested in the plasma from a known cold activator whose plasma underwent cold activation in a plastic test tube while in the blood bank bag it did not. The lack of cold activation observed in blood bank versus laboratory conditions did not stem from differences in anticoagulant, in speed of centrifugation, in proportion anticoagulant-blood or in the plastic ware; it appeared to stem from differences in the ratio between plasma volume and surface of the containers used in the blood bank versus the laboratory. Since plasma factor VII from 3 out of 16 women taking contraceptives became activated in the cold even at relatively small surface exposure it seems advisable to separate and freeze as fast as possible plasma components from blood donated by women on contraceptives.
Sera drawn from a sample of 1,147 military inductees, representative of the conscript population entering service in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), in 1977, were examined by radioimmunoassay for hepatitis A virus (HAV) antibody. The prevalence of HAV antibody is considerably higher in males of Eastern origin (84.4%) than of Western origins (39.7%) and in females of Eastern origin (79.9%) as compared with those of Western origin (30.3%). The difference between males and females is not statistically significant when level of education is controlled. An inverse association between years of schooling and HAV antibodies is evident both for males and females, but is stronger in Westerners than Easterners. These findings have implications for HAV prevention in the IDF.
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