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Universal vaccination is the most effective strategy to control hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In Argentina, vaccination against HBV was incorporated in year 2000 for newborns and in 2003 for 11 years old children. However, there is a paucity of data about protection levels against HBV infection. The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of seroprotective anti-HBs antibodies (aHBs) in Argentina. Serum samples negative for HBsAg and anti-HBc from 132 children born after year 2000 and 762 blood donors, older than 18 years, from five centers across the country, were analyzed for aHBs. Titers ¡Ý10 mIU/mL were observed in 74/132 children (56.1%) and 336/762 (44.1%) in blood donors. The median age for blood donors was 33.9 (23¨C43); from them, 210 (27.6%) were born after 1992 and, therefore, were catch-up by vaccine implementation at 11 years old age. Donors born in 1992 or before showed a significantly lower frequency of protection (32.2%) compared to donors born after 1992 (75.2%), p < 0.0001. In addition, significant differences were observed in the status of seroprotection between different participating centers (p = 0.024). Implementation of HBV vaccine in 2000 and 2003 implied an overall increase of the aHBs seroprotective rates, with a particularly adequate response in children vaccinated at 11 years old age. The observed results suggest that population born in 1992 or before is currently the most susceptible. Consequently, it would be advisable to become aware of the risk of transmission in this age group and to stress this population vaccination campaigns. Fil: Di Lello, Federico Alejandro. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Blejer, Jorgelina L.. Fundación Hemocentro; Argentina Fil: Alter, Adriana. Fundación Hemocentro; Argentina Fil: Bartoli, Sonia. Centro Regional de Hemoterapia Jujuy; Argentina Fil: Vargas, Fabiana Alejandra. Centro Regional de Hemoterapia de Mendoza; Argentina Fil: Ruiz, Rosángela. Hospital Regional Rio Grande; Argentina Fil: Galli, Claudio. Hospital Regional Rio Grande; Argentina Fil: Blanco, Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fundación Banco Central de Sangre; Argentina Fil: Gallego, Sandra Veronica. Fundación Banco Central de Sangre; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina Fil: Fernández, Roberto. Fundación Hemocentro; Argentina Fil: Martínez, Alfredo P.. Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno"; Argentina Fil: Flichman, Diego Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; Argentina

BACKGROUND Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the main cause of enteric acute viral hepatitis worldwide. In this epidemiological framework, it has become a threat to blood safety and a relevant issue for blood transfusions. However, there is a paucity of data regarding prevalence of HEV infection. The aim of this study was to determine HEV seroprevalence in blood donors from different regions from Argentina. MATERIAL AND METHODS Serum samples from 391 individuals attending five blood donor centers located in different regions from Argentina were analyzed for anti-HEV IgG and anti-HEV IgM. RESULTS Overall, anti-HEV IgG was detected in 44 out of 391 (11.3%) samples. HEV prevalence ranged from 5.1 to 20.0% among different country regions. A significant difference in blood donors' age was observed between anti-HEV IgG positive and negative individuals [44 (37-51) vs. 35 (27-43), P

BackgroundThe genetic diversity of persistent infectious agents, such as HHV-8, correlates closely with the migration of modern humans out of East Africa which makes them useful to trace human migrations. However, there is scarce data about the evolutionary history of HHV-8 particularly in multiethnic Latin American populations.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to characterize the genetic diversity and the phylogeography of HHV-8 in two distant geographic regions of Argentina and to establish potential associations with the genetic ancestry of the population.Study designA total of 605 HIV-1 infected subjects, Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS) patients and blood donors were recruited in the metropolitan (MET) and north-western regions of Argentina (NWA). After HHV-8 DNA detection, ORF-26 and ORF-K1 were analyzed for subtype assignment. Uniparental and biparental ancestry markers were evaluated in samples in which subtypes could be assigned. Phylogeographic analysis was performed in the ORF-K1 sequences from this study combined with 388 GenBank sequences.ResultsHHV-8 was detected in 24.8% of samples. ORF-K1 phylogenetic analyses showed that subtypes A (A1-A5), B1, C (C1-C3) and F were present in 46.9%, 6.25%, 43.75% and 3.1% of cases, respectively. Analyses of ORF-26 fragment revealed that 81.95% of strains were subtypes A/C followed by J, B2, R, and K. Among KS patients, subtype A/C was more commonly detected in MET whereas subtype J was the most frequent in NWA. Subtypes A/C was significantly associated with Native American maternal haplogroups (p=0.004), whereas subtype J was related to non-Native American haplogroups (pConclusionsThese results give evidence of the geographic circulation of HHV-8 in Argentina, provide new insights about its relationship with ancient and modern human migrations and identify the possible origins of this virus in Argentina.