What is the genetic material of HCV?
What is the genetic material of HCV?
Genetic material of HCV consists of single-strained RNA. Generation of HCV mutants insensitive to the immune system activity and resistant to used medications seem to be a consequence of HCV genetic variability, unusual replication potential and selection pressure of the host organism.
What is the main method for diagnosing viral hepatitis?
The most important and usual serological methods to detect hepatitis viruses include; enzyme immunoassay (EIA), radio-immunoassay (RIA) immuno-chromatographic assay (ICA), and immuno-chemiluminescence.
What type of virus is HCV?
Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is spread through contact with blood from an infected person. Today, most people become infected with the hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment used to prepare and inject drugs.
What is HCV positive?
This test, sometimes called the anti-HCV test, looks for antibodies, which are proteins released into the bloodstream when someone gets infected with the virus that causes hepatitis C. People who have positive HCV antibody tests are given a follow-up HCV RNA test to learn whether they have active infection.
How is HCV core antigen used in blood screening?
The HCV core Ag assay is a potentially useful assay for screening blood donors, which will minimize the risk of using HCV positive blood from a patient in the window period of HCV infection. Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, Core Antigen, Blood Donors, ELISA
How are enzyme immunoassays used to detect HCV?
Inherent problems with enzyme immunoassays for anti-HCV antibody detection include inability to detect antibodies against conformational epitopes and the genetic diversity of HCV. In addition, the anti-HCV antibody are either absent or very low in the incubation period and during the prodromal phase (window period).
How is the diagnosis of Chronic Hep C made?
It is estimated that 85% of HCV infected patients progress to chronic hepatitis. The routine laboratory diagnosis of HCV infection is based on the detection of HCV-specific antibodies (Ab) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA).
When to use core antigen for hepatitis C?
Detection of hepatitis C virus [HCV] core antigen (HCV core Ag) may well be an alternative to the molecular techniques, and is particularly important during the window period of HCV infection occurring after HCV infection and before the appearance of antibodies.