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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Hepatitis C virus among genitourinary clinic attenders in Scotland: unlinked anonymous testing.

Our objective is to gauge the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies among a population at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and, thus, the efficiency with which the virus is transmitted sexually. The investigators undertook an unlinked anonymous HCV antibody testing study of residual syphilis serology specimens taken from attenders of genitourinary clinics in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen during 1996/97. The results were linked to non-identifying risk information. Anti-HCV prevalences among non-injecting heterosexual men and women, and non-injecting homosexual/bisexual males ranged between 0 and 1.2%; the only exception to this was a 7.7% (4/52) prevalence among homosexual/bisexual males in Aberdeen. The overall anti-HCV prevalence for homosexual/bisexual males was 0.6% (4/668), for heterosexual males 0.8% (32/4135), for heterosexual females 0.3% (10/3035) and for injecting drug users 49% (72/148). Only 3 (all female) of the 46 non-injectors who were antibody positive were non-UK nationals or had lived abroad. HCV antibody positive injectors were less likely to have an acute STI and more likely to know their HCV status than non-injectors; no differences in these parameters were found between positive and negative non-injectors on anonymous HCV antibody testing. Our findings are in keeping with the prevailing view that HCV can be acquired through sexual intercourse but, for most people, the probability of this occurring is extremely low. Interventions to prevent the spread of HCV should be targeted mainly at injecting drug user (IDU) populations.

Female↗
PubMed2001

Hepatitis C virus among high and low risk pregnant women in Dundee: unlinked anonymous testing.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of the hepatitis C virus among pregnant women, to gauge the non-injecting, particularly sexual, risk of them being hepatitis C virus infected and to assess the potential impact of selective antenatal screening. POPULATION: Antenatal clinic attenders and women undergoing termination of pregnancy in 1997. SETTING: Ninewells Hospital, Dundee. DESIGN: Unlinked anonymous hepatitis C virus antibody testing of residual sera from specimens sent to the virus laboratory for routine serological testing. The results were linked to non-identifying risk information. RESULTS: Overall anti-hepatitis C virus prevalence was 0.6% (23/3,548). Prevalences among injecting drug users, non-injectors who had a sexual partner who injected, and those with neither risk respectively were 41% (7/17), 15% (5/33) and 0.3% (11/3,498). Relative risks for being an injector and a sexual partner of an injector respectively were 131 (95% CI 58-297) and 48 (95% CI 5-32). It is estimated that one of the 18 antenatal clinic attenders gave birth to an infected child. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that non-injecting partners of injectors may be at considerable risk of acquiring hepatitis C virus sexually. Efforts to promote the use of condoms among injectors and their sexual partners should be increased. Selective anti-hepatitis C virus screening of women who reported high risk behaviour would have failed to detect half the cases. Research to gauge the views of women of childbearing age on anti-hepatitis C virus testing is required.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Anonymous testing of newborn infants for HIV antibodies as a basis for estimating prevalence of HIV in childbearing women: the 1991-1994 study in Spain.

During 1991-1994, anonymous screening of newborn infants for maternal antibody to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was carried out in three regions of Spain: Valencia, Galicia and Sevilla. The newborn infants whose heel-stick blood eluates were satisfactory for HIV antibody tests were a consecutive series of 104 876, representing 99.3% of all newborn infants undergoing routine metabolic screening and estimated as comprising at least 98% of all births in the three regions. Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) positives were confirmed by immunoblot, yielding 246 confirmations: a rate of 2.3 per 1000. Seropositivity rates ranged from 1.4 per 1000 in Galicia to 2.1 in Sevilla and 3.1 in Valencia, and remained relatively stable in each region during the years of the study. Within socioeconomically defined subgroups of birth hospitals in Valencia and Galicia, all subgroups contained seropositives, even though there was a twofold to fivefold over-representation in the "inner city" public hospitals. To estimate the proportion of HIV-1-seropositive newborn infants who were positive for HIV-1 DNA, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were performed on 165 dried blood spots that had been retained following positive immunoblot assays. Fifteen (9%) were PCR positive, and when this proportion is adjusted for the age-specific sensitivity of the method, it translates into an estimated HIV-1 transmission rate of 24% (range 18-36%). For 94,906 of the 104,876 newborn infants screened, the EIA used could detect antibodies that react with epitopes of HIV-1 and HIV-2. There were 30 newborn infants whose blood eluate was positive by this combined HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody screen and whose secondary screening with monovalent HIV-2 and HIV-1 EIA indicated that the HIV-2 reactivity was above the cut-off whereas the HIV-1 was not. Ranking these 30 results according to absolute HIV-2 reactivity and relative reactivity with respect to HIV-1 indicated that four infants were probable true HIV-2 seropositives and a total of 12 were possible HIV-2 seropositives, a prevalence of the order of 1:10000 to 1:20000 newborn infants. These anonymous population-based serological studies provide "leading-indicator" data to complement traditional AIDS surveillance for epidemiological and planning purposes.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed2006

Testing anonymous link procedures for follow-up of adolescents in a school-based trial: the EU-DAP pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To study the feasibility of an anonymous coding procedure linking longitudinal information in a multi-center trial of substance abuse prevention among adolescents. METHODS: A school-based survey with re-test procedure was conducted among 485 students (mean age 13.8 years) from three countries at four study centers in order to study accuracy and repeatability of a self-generated anonymous code. RESULTS: Errors affected 18% of codes and 3% of all digits required for the code generation, with highest figures for two of the seven generation items. Sixty-one percent of the codes generated at the test were repeated identically at the re-test. Seventy-six percent of the codes could be linked excluding the 2 digits with the highest error rate in code generation, while 92% were linked using the best combination of the remaining seven or six digits. There was substantial variation between the centers in the results. CONCLUSIONS: Self-generation of anonymous codes is a feasible, but not a very efficient procedure to link longitudinal data among adolescents. Easy derivation and iterative matching procedures are crucial for achieving high efficiency of this type of anonymous linkage.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Human immunodeficiency virus prevalence in women at delivery using unlinked anonymous testing of newborns in the Malaysian setting.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the community prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in women at the time of delivery in a Malaysian setting. METHODOLOGY: Cord blood samples from a pilot screening programme for congenital hypothyroidism in 1995 at Ipoh city and surrounding district hospitals were screened anonymously for HIV 1 and 2. HIV status was determined using chemiluminescent technology. Positive samples were retested using the Genelavia Mixt assay. RESULTS: A total of 4927 samples were tested. The ethnic breakdown included 51.7% Malays, 18.9% Chinese, 14.3% Indian, 2.3% Others and 12.9% unknown. The geographical distribution of samples was 73.9% urban, 24.2% rural and 1.9% unknown. The seroprevalence of HIV positivity was 3.25 per 1000 deliveries (95% CI: 1.92-5.16). Seroprevalence was higher for samples from rural and Malay mothers. CONCLUSION: The high seroprevalence in this study suggests that the spread of HIV is far wider than that anticipated by mandatory national reporting. It also supports antenatal screening and the use of antiretroviral therapy as an important strategy to reduce perinatal transmission.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗