Virology Journal (Jan 2010)

Hepatitis C virus infection in blood donors from the state of Puebla, Mexico

  • Contreras-Mioni Laura,
  • Martínez-Laguna Ygnacio,
  • Vargas-Maldonado Martín T,
  • Meléndez-Mena Daniel,
  • Ruiz-Conde Julia I,
  • Guzmán-Flores Belinda,
  • Santos-López Gerardo,
  • Sosa-Jurado Francisca,
  • Vallejo-Ruiz Verónica,
  • Reyes-Leyva Julio

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-7-18
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
p. 18

Abstract

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Abstract Background Worldwide, 130 million persons are estimated to be infected with HCV. Puebla is the Mexican state with the highest mortality due to hepatic cirrhosis. Therefore, it is imperative to obtain epidemiological data on HCV infection in asymptomatic people of this region. The objective of present study was to analyze the prevalence of antibodies and genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in blood donors from Puebla, Mexico. Results The overall prevalence was 0.84% (515/61553). Distribution by region was: North, 0.86% (54/6270); Southeast, 1.04% (75/7197); Southwest, 0.93% (36/3852); and Central, 0.79% (350/44234). Ninety-six donors were enrolled for detection and genotyping of virus, from which 37 (38.5%) were HCV-RNA positive. Detected subtypes were: 1a (40.5%), 1b (27.0%), mixed 1a/1b (18.9%), undetermined genotype 1 (5.4%), 2a (2.7%), 2b (2.7%), and mixed 1a/2a (2.7%). All recovered donors with S/CO > 39 were HCV-RNA positive (11/11) and presented elevated ALT; in donors with S/CO Conclusions HCV prevalence of donors in Puebla is similar to other Mexican states. The most prevalent genotype is 1, of which subtype 1a is the most frequent.