Abstract:
Two patients with acute hepatitis B with suggested sexual transmission of hepatitis G virus (HGV) are reported. A total of 18 patients with community acquired acute hepatitis B were analyzed in this study. Two of the 18 patients (patients 1 and 2) were positive for serum HGV RNA at the initial consultation. Both patients had had sexual contact with prostitutes several weeks before the onset of acute hepatitis, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) was suggested to be infected through the sexual contacts. These patients showed no other history of exposure to possible transmission routes for blood-borne hepatitis viruses. Patient 1 was diagnosed as with acute HGV infection because the antibody to HGV envelope-2 protein seroconverted to positive during the course of acute hepatitis. HGV RNA was negative in a serum sample collected from patient 2 before the onset of acute hepatitis, also suggesting acute HGV infection. These results indicate that in patients 1 and 2 HGV was infected along with HBV through sexual contact. The clinical manifestations of acute hepatitis in the two patients with HGV co-infection did not differ from those in the 16 patients with HBV infection alone.
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(Received Aug. 6, 1997; accepted Oct. 30, 1997)
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Tanaka, E., Nakatsuji, Y., Kobayashi, M. et al. Two patients with acute hepatitis B with suspected sexual transmission of hepatitis G virus. J Gastroenterol 33, 419–423 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s005350050106
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s005350050106