Affiliation:
1. Epitope, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon 97005.
Abstract
Oral fluid samples were compared with serum samples as a specimen source for hepatitis A, B, and C virus markers. Oral fluid was obtained with a treated absorbent pad and tested by using existing commercial enzyme immunoassays with only minor modifications. Compared with serum sampling the sensitivity and specificity of oral sampling were 100% (51 of 51 samples) and 98% (46 of 47 samples) for hepatitis A virus immunoglobulin M, 100% (29 of 29 samples) and 100% (29 of 29 samples) for hepatitis B virus surface antigen, and 100% (13 of 13 samples) and 100% (13 of 13 samples) for hepatitis C virus antibody, respectively. The decline of hepatitis A virus immunoglobulin M in oral samples was parallel to, though somewhat more rapid than, that of hepatitis A virus immunoglobulin M in serum samples. It is proposed that oral sampling represents a safer and more convenient procedure for reliable hepatitis virus testing than blood sampling and that it has wide application in patient and outbreak management.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Cited by
73 articles.
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