Hepatitis B and C prevalences among blood donors in the south region of Brazil

Abstract

The prevalence of hepatitis B and C infection has been determined in a seroepidemiological survey among blood donors from the south of Brazil (Florianópolis, State of Santa Catarina). These markers has also been correlated with the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a surrogate marker to prevent post-transfusion hepatitis. Sera from 5000 donors were randomly collected in the period of April to November 1991. The prevalences of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc were respectively 0.78%, 7.02% and 13.98%. The anti-HCV prevalence after confirmation testing with line immunoassay (LIA), was 1.14%. Normal values of ALT ( < = 32 U/ml) were found in 59.78%, values slightly above the mean (ALT between 32-70 U/ml) in 37.74% and high values of ALT ( > = 70 U/ml) in 2.48%. The positivity of anti-HCV antibodies increased with the elevation of ALT levels. This correlation was not observed in relation to HBsAg. There exists a diversity in the recognition of HCV epitopes among HCV positive donors. Via the confirmation test used, we could observe that 94.7% of donors recognize the structural core antigen. Besides that, we observed that 5.26% of the HCV reactive sera recognized only epitopes located in the NS4 and/or NS5 region, indicating the importance of these epitopes for the improvement of assays.

Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen in blood donors in the middle west region of Brazil

“…Abnormal levels of ALT were found in 11 individuals (2%). The HBsAg prevalence was similar to that recorded in the city of Florianópolis, State of Santa Catarina, by Vasconcelos et al (1994). According to Zuckerman (1985), this HBsAg prevalence is consistent with a low prevalence pattern of HBV infection (0.2-0.5% HBsAg).…”

Positive serology for viral hepatitis and donor self-exclusion in Southern Brazil

“…The prevalence of positive serology for viral hepatitis found in this study is similar to those reported previously for Brazil by other authors (HBsAg: 0.14-0.78%, anti-HBc: 2.05-13.44%, anti-HCV: 0.34-1.14%) [46][47][48] . The prevalence of hepatitis B markers in Brazil varies greatly by region.…”

The Rio de Janeiro HIV Vaccine Site: I. Recruitment Strategies and Socio-demographic Data of a HIV Negative Homosexual and Bisexual Male Cohort in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…This data compares to blood donors studies (0.86%) in Rio de Janeiro (Vanderborght et al 1993) and in southern Brazil (0.28%) (Vasconcelos et al 1994). In a study with AIDS patients in São Paulo (Gir et al 1994) the rate was similar (30%).…”

“…Morever, the absolute number of AIDS (Clara Yoshida, personal communications). The HBsAg rate (3.7 in HIV negative and 9.1 in HIV positive volunteers) was also higher than that found among blood donors in Rio de Janeiro (Vanderborght et al 1993) and southern Brazil (Vasconcelos et al 1994) where rates were 1.6 and 0.78, respectively. In a study with patients with AIDS from São Paulo (Gir et al 1994) this rate was 33% and in Europe (Lemp et al 1994) the rate was 20%.…”

“…By comparison the prevalence in blood donors was 0.4% in Rio de Janeiro (Vanderborght et al 1993) and 0.28% in southern Brazil (Vasconcelos et al 1994). In other homosexual populations similar prevalence rates have been found (Morales et al 1994) and even higher rates were found in North Carolina (Schoenbach et al 1993), a state wthin the United States with low overall STD incidence.…”