Survey of the Antibody to HCV in National Leprosarium Suruga

概要

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Blood specimens from 210 leprosy patients (average age 67.4 years old) and 84 staff members (average age 43.5 years old) in National Leprosar-ium Suruga were tested for anti-HCV antibody us-ing Ortho's Ab ELISA system. Among the patients, 17 patients had chronic hepatic dysfunction as well as leprosy. Twenty of the 210 patients (9.5%) had anti-HCV antibody in their blood. Eleven of the 17 pa-tients (65%) with chronic hepatic dysfunction were positive for anti-HCV antibody. Only one of the staff member was anti-HCV antibody positive. This high positive ratio of anti-HCV antibody in the leprosy patients is similar to the results of another research reported from National Leprosarium Oku Komyo-En. We, therefore, conclude that the pre-valence of anti-HCV antibody in leprosy patients is higher than that of the general population and that anti-HCV antibody is related closely to chronic hepatic dysfunction.Some investigators have recently reported that there was an increased incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in leprosy patients. And so, it is specu-lated that this is due to the high prevalence of the hepatitis C virus. However, the reason for this high prevalence of anti-HCV antibody in the sample is obscure.
日本ハンセン病学会の論文