Alzahrani Alhusain J, Obeid Obeid E, Al-Ali Amein, Imamwardi Burhan
Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2009 Apr 30;3(3):235-8. doi: 10.3855/jidc.42.
The simultaneous detection of antigen and antibody was originally described for the early detection of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The same approach was applied to detect the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The aim of this work was to use the antigen and antibody combination assay for the detection of HCV and HIV infections in expatriates in Eastern Saudi Arabia.
The study group (N = 875) included expatriate workers of both sexes who were undergoing mandatory pre-employment testing. Detection of anti-HCV antibodies, HCV core antigen, HCV viral RNA, HIV antigens and antibodies was conducted using commercially available kits.
Of the 875 samples that were screened for HCV-specific antibodies, four (0.46%) tested positive (two from Pakistan, one from India, and one from the Philippines) and two (0.23%) were equivocal (one from Egypt and one from Nepal). All four samples that were positive for HCV-specific antibodies also tested positive using HCV RNA assay and the HCV antigen-antibody combination assay. The two samples that were equivocal tested positive using the HCV RNA assay and the HCV antigen-antibody combination assay. Of the 875 samples that were tested for HIV antibodies, only one (0.11%) sample gave repeatedly positive results. The same sample also tested repeatedly positive using the HIV combination assay. These results were subsequently confirmed by HIV western blot assay.
Our study indicates that the addition of antigen detection to the screening of HCV and HIV may lower the risk of transmission of these viruses in the host country and contribute to the overall control of HCV and HIV in Saudi Arabia.
抗原和抗体的同步检测最初是为早期检测人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）而描述的。同样的方法被应用于检测丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）。这项工作的目的是使用抗原和抗体联合检测法来检测沙特阿拉伯东部外籍人员中的HCV和HIV感染情况。
研究组（N = 875）包括正在接受强制性入职前检测的男女外籍工人。使用市售试剂盒进行抗HCV抗体、HCV核心抗原、HCV病毒RNA、HIV抗原和抗体的检测。
在875份筛查HCV特异性抗体的样本中，4份（0.46%）检测呈阳性（2份来自巴基斯坦，1份来自印度，1份来自菲律宾），2份（0.23%）结果不明确（1份来自埃及，1份来自尼泊尔）。所有4份HCV特异性抗体呈阳性的样本使用HCV RNA检测法和HCV抗原-抗体联合检测法也呈阳性。2份结果不明确的样本使用HCV RNA检测法和HCV抗原-抗体联合检测法呈阳性。在875份检测HIV抗体的样本中，只有1份（0.11%）样本多次检测呈阳性。同一样本使用HIV联合检测法也多次检测呈阳性。这些结果随后通过HIV免疫印迹法得到证实。
我们的研究表明，在HCV和HIV筛查中增加抗原检测可能会降低这些病毒在东道国的传播风险，并有助于沙特阿拉伯对HCV和HIV的总体控制。
