COMPARISON OF 3 DIFFERENT IMMUNOASSAYS AND PCR FOR THE DETECTION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION IN PREGNANT-WOMEN IN TAIWAN

To compare different hepatitis C virus (HCV) immunoassays and HCV-RNA in pregnant women, we investigated two independent groups: 1,687 cases without screening for serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (group A) and 333 cases with elevated ALT (> 45 IU/l) (group B), after screening 21,459 pregnant women. In group A, 11 (0.65%) and 21 (1.24%) were ant i-HCV-positive by first- and second-generation tests, respectively, wh ile in group B 8 (2.40%) and 19 (5.71%) were positive, respectively. T he results revealed by second-generation assays based on either recomb inant protein or synthetic peptides were identical, as were the anti-H CV titers in group B. Among 40 second-generation anti-HCV-positive cas es, 18 (86%) of 21 in group A and 17 (89%) of the 19 in group B contai ned serum HCV-RNA by RT-PCR. Thus the prevalence of anti-HCV in Taiwan ese pregnant women is 1.24% versus 5.71% in those with elevated ALT le vel.