Hepatitis Virus B and Hepatitis Virus C Co-Infection Among HIV Patients and Development of an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for Diagnosis of Equine Protozoa Myeloencephalitis

Abstract

Study 1: HIV patients with chronic HBV and/or HCV are more likely to die of liver disease and have a more rapid progression to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) than patients solely infected with HIV. Blood samples were assayed for the presence of HIV 1/2 antibodies, Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) and Hepatitis C antibodies (HCVab). The prevalence of HBV and HCV among HIV patients was 13% and 10%, respectively. This calls for integration of HBV and HCV prevention, and treatment into HIV programs. Study 2: The current techniques used to diagnose EPM have low sensitivities and some are expensive. To improve serologic diagnosis of EPM, a trivalent antigen (rSAG2/4D1/3D2) was expressed, purified and later incorporated into indirect ELISAs. rSAG2 and rSAG4D1/3D2 reported two and one false negative (s), respectively while rSAG2/4D1/3D2 reported none at a cut off of 15% positivity. rSAG2/4D1/3D2 could be more accurate and reliable than rSAG2 and rSAG4D1/3D2.