title: Genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus infection in Taiwan.
abstract: To investigate the prevalence of genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Taiwan, genotypes were identified in 122 (36 anti-HCV-positive blood donors, 44 anti-HCV-positive aborigines, 28 hemodialysis patients, and 14 patients with chronic liver diseases) of 280 subjects, using polymerase chain reaction by Okamoto's type-specific primer method. Type II was the dominant (66.7%) type among anti-HCV-positive blood donors, followed by type III and type IV with the same percentages (16.7%), while none of type I was detected. The prevalence of genotype distribution were 75.0%, 81.1%, and 64.3% for type II, 4.6%, 17.9%, and 21.4% for type III, 13.6%, 0%, and 7.1% for type IV, for the aborigines, hemodialysis, and chronic liver diseases groups, respectively. Four subjects revealed mixed infections by two different genotypes: two cases of II and III; and each one case of II and IV, and III and IV. Diverse genotype distributions in two hemodialysis groups disclose the existence of obvious regional differences even within a region. The results reveal the highest prevalence of type II as in Japan. However, there is a higher prevalence rate of type IV than in Japan.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Preventive Medicine, Taipei Medical College, Republic of China.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hsiau
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: F N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: P Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Tam
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology