| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Blood is currently used as the specimen for hepatitis antibody tests, but because of the risk of infection, e.g., by needle prick accidents, etc., and the need to secure technicians to collect the blood, etc., the use of blood specimens could hardly be said to necessarily be the best method. In this study we collected oral fluid from patients with hepatitis B and C by means of an OraSure simple oral fluid collection device and measured hepatitis antibodies in oral fluid with a serum hepatitis antibody kit. The following four basic tests were performed in the oral fluid experiment : 1. within-run reproducibility tests, 2. dilution tests, 3. freeze-thawing tests, and 4. storage stability tests, and the results were compared with the findings in a blood specimen drawn from the same subject. The values obtained in the basic investigation consisting of the within-run reproducibility tests, dilution tests, freeze-thawing tests, and storage stability, tests were within the precision limits, and no changes in the results of the evaluations were observed. Comparison of the results of measurements in oral fluid with the results in serum showed that oral fluid was positive in 6 of the 7 patients who were seropositive for hepatitis B, a sensitivity of 86%, and since all of the 16 patients who were seropositive were also oral-fluid-positive, specificity was 100%. Similarly, in hepatitis C sensitivity was 88% and specificity was 100%.
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