Study on hepatitis C virus genotyping in Yixing area, Jiangsu province / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in Yixing, Jiangsu province.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Genotypes identification on sera samples were obtained from 158 donors who had already been anti-HCV positive through PCR method with type specific primer designed according to the sequence of 5'non-coding region (5'NCR). 5'NCR was also sequenced and compared with published date. Genotypes distribution was investigated in patients with different sex and clinical types of hepatitis C.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the total 158 patients, 95 were HCV RNA positive in which 80 patients having genotype 1b (80/95; 84.4%), 5 patients having genotype 2(5/95; 5.3%), 5 patients with 1b/2 mixed genotypes (5/ 95; 5.3%) and another 5 patients whose genotype undetermined. The difference on the distribution of HCV genotypes was significant between female and male patients (P < 0.05) but not in different kinds of hepatitis C patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Type 1b was the predominant HCV genotype in Yixing area.</p>