El-Raziky M S, El-Hawary M, Esmat G, Abouzied A M, El-Koofy N, Mohsen N, Mansour S, Shaheen A, Abdel Hamid M, El-Karaksy H
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, 8 street No. 25, El-Mokattam, Cairo11585, Egypt.
World J Gastroenterol. 2007 Mar 28;13(12):1828-32. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i12.1828.
To identify the prevalence, risk factors and manifestations of asymptomatic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Egyptian children.
Children at the age of 1-9 years were screened for HCV antibodies and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. Every child with elevated ALT and/or detectable HCV antibodies was tested for HCV RNA by RT-PCR and compared with two negative controls for risk factors and signs and symptoms of liver disease.
We screened 1042 children, six of them had elevated ALT, negative HCV antibody and positive RNA, likely representing acute hepatitis C cases. Fifteen children were HCV seropositive, 5 of them were HCV RNA positive. Asymptomatic HCV infection was present in 2.02% (positive results for either HCV antibodies or HCV-RNA or both). Symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, history of fatigue and school absence because of illness and risk factors such as dental care were significantly more common among HCV positive cases than among controls. None of the HCV positive children was diagnosed as having signs of advanced liver disease upon clinical or ultrasonographic examination.
Asymptomatic HCV infection is detectable in 2.02% Egyptian children.
确定埃及儿童无症状丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染的患病率、危险因素及表现。
对1至9岁儿童进行HCV抗体和丙氨酸转氨酶（ALT）水平筛查。每例ALT升高和/或可检测到HCV抗体的儿童均通过逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）检测HCV RNA，并与两个阴性对照进行比较，分析肝病的危险因素及体征和症状。
我们筛查了1042名儿童，其中6名ALT升高、HCV抗体阴性但RNA阳性，可能为急性丙型肝炎病例。15名儿童HCV血清学阳性，其中5名HCV RNA阳性。无症状HCV感染率为2.02%（HCV抗体或HCV-RNA或两者均为阳性结果）。HCV阳性病例中，腹泻、腹痛、疲劳史以及因病缺课等症状和牙科护理等危险因素比对照组更为常见。临床或超声检查时，未发现HCV阳性儿童有晚期肝病迹象。
在2.02%的埃及儿童中可检测到无症状HCV感染。
