[Seroepidemiological survey of TT virus (TTV) infection in an endemic area for hepatitis C virus]

Abstract

Seroepidemiological survey of TT virus (TTV) infection was performed in the inhabitants living in an endemic area for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Gifu prefecture, Japan. In this area, 482 of 1062 inhabitants (45.4%) were seropositive for HCV relative antibodies. TTV-DNA was detected in the sera from 12 of 88 inhabitants (13.6%). The positive rate of TTV-DNA had no relation to sex or age. The TTV DNA-positive rate of the inhabitants with HCV infection was 21.4% higher than that of the inhabitants without HCV infection 10.0%. In the present survey, the rate of liver dysfunction of TTV DNA-negative inhabitants was not different from that of TTV DNA-positive inhabitants. Such results seem to suggest that TTV infection is not related to the liver disease in the area.