Diagnostic performance of an immunoassay for simultaneous detection of HCV core antigen and antibodies among haemodialysis patients

Abstract

Nosocomial transmission of HCV is a concern in haemodialysis (HD) units worldwide. Diagnosis of HCV infection among dialysis patients is currently based on the detection of anti HCV antibodies by ELISA, and is confirmed by HCV RNA. The average window period between HCV infection and seroconversion with new generations of HCV antibody tests remains approximately 70 days with more prolonged period among dialysis patients. In this study we assessed the diagnostic performance of an immunoassay designed for simultaneous detection of anti HCV antibodies and core antigen in one step in comparison to qualitative RT-PCR and anti HCV antibodies detection test among Egyptian haemodialysis patients. The studied patients were 39 chronic renal failure patients on maintenance haemodialysis. The results obtained in the present study revealed HCV infection of 56.4%. Combined Ag/Ab test detected 3 out of the 4 anti-HCV negative viraemic patients who were in the window period. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the test were higher than that of anti HCV antibodies detection test (95.45%, 94.1% and 94.87% versus 81.8%, 88.23% and 84.6%) and they were raised to 100% on combining its positivity with liver enzymes elevation results. Therefore, this simple combined Ag/Ab test can be applied for early detection of HCV infection during window period among HD patients as an alternative to HCV RNA detection.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic among young people in China between 2005 and 2012: results of a spatial temporal analysis

“…Poor HIV‐related knowledge and low self‐perceived risk may be associated with this rising burden of HIV infection among young people . Basic understanding of HIV was also found to be appallingly poor among Chinese young people, as > 85% of them had no knowledge regarding HIV prevention . In addition to individual risk‐taking behaviours, improved detection of HIV infection through the robust CRS system in China may be another contributing factor to this rise in the number of cases of HIV infection in recent years .…”

“…The number of HIV‐positive cases has also increased among young people in recent years, and sexual transmission (especially via premarital sex) accounted for more than 90% of these new cases. Another issue of huge concern is the potential for young people at high risk of infection, such as school drop‐outs, young migrants, those in juvenile detention centres and residents of high‐prevalence zones, to be omitted from national HIV prevention initiatives .…”

Evaluation of diagnostic performance of new antigen-based enzyme immune assay for diagnosis of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections

“…Moreover hemodialysis patients, HIV and immunocompromised subjects may not reveal antibody response. (Schneeberger et al, 1998;Hoofnagle, 2002;Hadlich et al, 2007;El-Emshaty et al, 2011). Insidious nature of HCV infections and insufficiency of existing screening tests necessitate a new diagnostic tool to detect HCV antigen in blood for early intervention.…”

Clinical and epidemiological overview of liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in patients infected with the hepatitis C virus

“…Recently, tests have been developed that combine viral protein antigens with anti-HCV antibodies, increasing the effectiveness and detection rate in up to 22 days before the conventional ELISA. A disadvantage is the increased cost of this method (El-Emshaty et al, 2011).…”