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Characteristics of hepatitis C virus among intravenous drug users in Iceland

Löve, Arthur ; Sigurdsson, Jon R. ; Stanzeit, Barbara ; Briem, Haraldur ; Rikardsdottir, Hugrun and Widell, Anders LU (1996) In American Journal of Epidemiology 143(6). p.631-636
Abstract
According to antibody analysis, approximately two of every three intravenous drug users in Iceland have become infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). In this study, serum samples from 55 HCV antibody-positive intravenous drug users (39 males and 16 females) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, and the viral strains were grouped into genotypes. Only three genotypes--1a, 3a, and 1b--were found among the drug users. Of 40 persons who were positive by polymerase chain reaction, 23 (57.5%) had type 1a, 15 (37.5%) had type 3a, and one (2.5%) had type 1b. One serum sample was untypeable. HCV viral RNA was detectable in 84.6% of the males and 43.7% of the females, which is a significant difference between the sexes (p < 0.01). In... (More)
According to antibody analysis, approximately two of every three intravenous drug users in Iceland have become infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). In this study, serum samples from 55 HCV antibody-positive intravenous drug users (39 males and 16 females) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, and the viral strains were grouped into genotypes. Only three genotypes--1a, 3a, and 1b--were found among the drug users. Of 40 persons who were positive by polymerase chain reaction, 23 (57.5%) had type 1a, 15 (37.5%) had type 3a, and one (2.5%) had type 1b. One serum sample was untypeable. HCV viral RNA was detectable in 84.6% of the males and 43.7% of the females, which is a significant difference between the sexes (p < 0.01). In addition, 41 randomly selected HCV antibody-positive intravenous drug users (17 males and 24 females) were tested for HCV viral RNA with a commercially available polymerase chain reaction technique. In this subset of drug users, 76.4% of the males and 33.3% of the females had detectable HCV RNA in their serum, which is also a significant sex difference (p < 0.01). This study shows that two HCV genotypes predominate among intravenous drug users in Iceland, and the results indicate that women eliminate virus more effectively than men. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
American Journal of Epidemiology
volume
143
issue
6
pages
631 - 636
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:8610680
  • scopus:0029932394
ISSN
0002-9262
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4480d96b-a7ca-4d70-9189-1d690769c197 (old id 1109970)
alternative location
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/143/6/631
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:41:36
date last changed
2022-01-26 08:50:29
@article{4480d96b-a7ca-4d70-9189-1d690769c197,
  abstract     = {{According to antibody analysis, approximately two of every three intravenous drug users in Iceland have become infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). In this study, serum samples from 55 HCV antibody-positive intravenous drug users (39 males and 16 females) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, and the viral strains were grouped into genotypes. Only three genotypes--1a, 3a, and 1b--were found among the drug users. Of 40 persons who were positive by polymerase chain reaction, 23 (57.5%) had type 1a, 15 (37.5%) had type 3a, and one (2.5%) had type 1b. One serum sample was untypeable. HCV viral RNA was detectable in 84.6% of the males and 43.7% of the females, which is a significant difference between the sexes (p &lt; 0.01). In addition, 41 randomly selected HCV antibody-positive intravenous drug users (17 males and 24 females) were tested for HCV viral RNA with a commercially available polymerase chain reaction technique. In this subset of drug users, 76.4% of the males and 33.3% of the females had detectable HCV RNA in their serum, which is also a significant sex difference (p &lt; 0.01). This study shows that two HCV genotypes predominate among intravenous drug users in Iceland, and the results indicate that women eliminate virus more effectively than men.}},
  author       = {{Löve, Arthur and Sigurdsson, Jon R. and Stanzeit, Barbara and Briem, Haraldur and Rikardsdottir, Hugrun and Widell, Anders}},
  issn         = {{0002-9262}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{631--636}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{American Journal of Epidemiology}},
  title        = {{Characteristics of hepatitis C virus among intravenous drug users in Iceland}},
  url          = {{http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/143/6/631}},
  volume       = {{143}},
  year         = {{1996}},
}