Al Dhahry Said H S, Nograles Jameel C, Rajapakse Situsekara M W W B, Al Toqi Fadhila S S, Kaminski Geraldine Z
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, P O Box 35, Al Khod, Muscat-123, Sultanate of Oman.
J Sci Res Med Sci. 2003 Aug;5(1-2):15-20.
A retrospective study was carried out to assess the performance of hepatitis C diagnostic assays in our laboratory, and to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C among blood donors at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital.
From 1991 to 2001, approximately 55,000 serum samples collected from blood donors and patients were submitted to our laboratory for testing. All sera were screened for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) by three successive generations of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Anti-HCV positive sera were further tested by recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for HCV RNA was carried out on a limited number (241) of ELISA positive samples.
Out of 30012 samples from blood donors that were screened for anti-HCV, 272 (0.91%) were positive. Of these, 46.5% were confirmed positive by RIBA. The proportion of patient sera that were confirmed positive varied from 95% among intravenous drug users to 81% in patients with hepatitis to 70% in those with haemoglobinopathies. HCV RNA was detected in 67%, 6%, and 0% of the RIBA positive, indeterminate and negative samples respectively.
Based on RIBA, the prevalence of anti-HCV among blood donors in Oman is close to 0.5%. In our experience, RIBA-positivity is predictive of HCV infection in two thirds of subjects, and HCV infection is highly unlikely in those who are RIBA-negative. The experience at SQUH with three types of HCV assays has enabled the laboratory to develop a test algorithm, starting with screening anti-HCV ELISA.
开展一项回顾性研究，以评估我们实验室丙型肝炎诊断检测方法的性能，并确定苏丹卡布斯大学医院献血者中丙型肝炎的患病率。
1991年至2001年期间，从献血者和患者处采集的约55000份血清样本被送至我们实验室进行检测。所有血清均通过三代连续酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）筛查丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）抗体。抗-HCV阳性血清进一步通过重组免疫印迹法（RIBA）检测。对有限数量（241份）的ELISA阳性样本进行HCV RNA的逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）。
在30012份接受抗-HCV筛查的献血者样本中，272份（0.91%）呈阳性。其中，46.5%经RIBA确认为阳性。确诊为阳性的患者血清比例从静脉吸毒者中的95%到肝炎患者中的81%，再到血红蛋白病患者中的70%不等。在RIBA阳性、不确定和阴性样本中，分别有67%、6%和0%检测到HCV RNA。
基于RIBA，阿曼献血者中抗-HCV的患病率接近0.5%。根据我们的经验，三分之二的RIBA阳性受试者可预测为HCV感染，而RIBA阴性者感染HCV的可能性极小。苏丹卡布斯大学医院使用三种丙型肝炎检测方法的经验使实验室能够制定一种检测算法，从筛查抗-HCV ELISA开始。
