enzyme immuno assay(EIA) which utilizes a solid phase coated with a recombinant antigen derived from the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome was evaluated for efficacy in the detection of anti HCV. Using the antigen expressed on E. coli from a cDNA
clone
encoding structural region and nonstructural region of HCV genome, the prevalence of HCV antibody on 2858 peoples in Korea was investigated. Prevalence of antibodies to HCV is 1.2% in townsmen, 0.7% in farm village residents and 2.7% in seashore
residents considered to be at low risk for exposure to HCV. These limited data also indicate that the prevalence of antibodies to HCV is 31.0% in commercial plasma donors, 10.6% in HIV(Human Immunodefecience Virus) antibody positive group and
4.8%
in
prostitutors considered to be at high risk for exposure to HCV. And 51(45.9%) sera were positive for hepatitis B core antibody, 3(2.7%) sera were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and 27(24.3%) sera were elevated ALT(alanine
aminotransferase)
concentration among 111 sera which were confirmed anti-HCV positive. We confirmed 10 specimens have had RNA of hepatitis C virus among 25 anti-HCV positive specimens by polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and southern blot hybridization,
simultaneousely,
comparative test was carried out among 8 commercial anti-HCV kits in Korean, and 6 kits had shown specific homology more than 95%. These seroepidemiological data suggest that HCV plays an important role as an etiological agent in Korea.
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