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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2001, p. 1536-1539, Vol. 39, No. 4
Department of Pathology, National Institute
of Infectious Diseases,1 and 3rd
Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of
Medicine,2 Tokyo, Japan, and Department
of Hepatology, Yangon General Hospital,3 and
Department of Medical Research,4 Yangon,
Myanmar
Received 28 August 2000/Returned for modification 8 January
2001/Accepted 6 February 2001
We carried out a molecular characteristic-based epidemiological
survey of various hepatitis viruses, including hepatitis B virus
(HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), and GB virus C
(GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV), in Myanmar. The study
population of 403 subjects consisted of 213 healthy individuals residing in the city of Yangon, Myanmar, and the surrounding suburbs and 190 liver disease patients (155 virus-related liver disease patients and 35 nonviral disease patients). The infection rates of the
viruses among the 213 healthy subjects were as follows: 8% for HBV (16 patients), 2% for HCV (4 patients), and 8% for GBV-C/HGV (17 patients). In contrast, for 155 patients with acute hepatitis, chronic
hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, or hepatocellular carcinoma, the infection
rates were 30% for HBV (46 patients), 27% for HCV (41 patients), and
11% for GBV-C/HGV (17 patients). In the nonviral liver disease group
of 35 patients with alcoholic liver disease, fatty liver, liver
abscess, and biliary disease, the infection rates were 6% for HBV (2 patients), 20% for HCV (7 patients), and 26% for GBV-C/HGV (9 patients). The most common viral genotypes were type C of HBV (77%),
type 3b of HCV (67%), and type 2 of GBV-C/HGV (67%). Moreover,
testing for HEV among 371 subjects resulted in the detection
of anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) in 117 patients (32%). The age
prevalence of anti-HEV IgG was 3% for patients younger than
20 years and 30% or more for patients 20 years of age or older.
Furthermore, a high prevalence of anti-HEV IgG (24%) was also found in
swine living together with humans in Yangon. These results suggest that
these hepatitis virus infections are widespread in Myanmar and have led
to a high incidence of acute and chronic liver disease patients in the region.
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.4.1536-1539.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Molecular Characteristic-Based Epidemiology of
Hepatitis B, C, and E Viruses and GB Virus C/Hepatitis G Virus in
Myanmar
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Toyama 1-23-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan. Phone: (81) 3-5285-1111, ext. 2624. Fax: (81) 3-5285-1189. E-mail: kenjiabe{at}nih.go.jp.
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