OBJECTIVES To evaluate the current seroprevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus (HAV) in a sample of schoolchildren above 10 years of age and to determine the prevalence of HAV-induced hepatitis in adults at a tertiary care hospital in northern India between January 1992 and December 2000. METHODS Sera from 276 male and 224 female schoolchildren aged 10-17 years were tested for anti...

Hepatitis C virus is associated with several immune-mediated phenomena, presented usually as extra-hepatic hepatitis C manifestations. A predisposition to autoimmunity associated with the presence of baseline autoantibodies has been demonstrated in interferon mediated autoimmune diseases. We report a male patient, 34 years old, with genotype 1, chronic hepatitis C (hepatitis C viremia 1.432.463...

Background: The clinical significance of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and some other viral infections is controversial. Objective: To study the prevalence of anticardiolipin antibody (ACLA) and antibeta2glycoproteinI antibody (antibeta2GPI antibody) in HCV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients and its association with liver clinical parame...

Background and Aims: Co-infection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients can develop and increase liver disease and hepatic complications in the world. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of HEV infection in patients suffering from chronic HCV infection. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study testing anti-HEV antibodies in serum...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of IgG antiplatelet (anti-P) IgG antibodies in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) of diverse but well defined etiology. METHODS One-hundred fifty-six consecutive patients with CLD (65 with chronic hepatitis B, 57 with chronic hepatitis C, 23 with alcoholic liver disease and 11 with primary biliary cirrhosis), and 240 heal...

BACKGROUND Antibodies to liver-kidney microsome type 1 (anti-LKM-1), which are a marker of autoimmune hepatitis, are found in a minority of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Whether interferon/ribavirin therapy is safe and effective in these patients is unclear. AIM To describe the prevalence, clinical features and response to interferon/ribavirin therapy of anti-LKM-1 ...

BACKGROUND Antibodies to cardiolipin (aCLs) are often detected in patients with autoimmune disorders or infectious diseases. OBJECTIVE To investigate the distribution of aCL isotypes and requirement of protein cofactor in viral infections in order to establish the importance, if any, of these antibodies in these infectious diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS The isotype distribution of aCLs in t...

Background: Although regular frequent blood transfusion improves overall survival of multi-transfused patients like β-thalassemic ones, it carries a definite risk of infection with blood-borne viruses such as viral hepatitis. This study was done to determine seropositivity of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and Human Immunedeficiency Virus (HIV) infections among β-th...

Hepatitis C virus infection is now recognized as a common and serious complication of injection drug use and will be encountered frequently in methadone maintenance patients. Approximately 1.8% of the United States population, or 3.9 million persons, are infected with hepatitis C virus. A majority of acute hepatitis C virus infections are associated with injection drug use, and 64-88% of inject...