title: Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital.
abstract: Different hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes may be associated with viral load, severity of liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, geographical location and sensitivity to interferon. In this study the prevalence of HCV-RNA and distribution of HCV genotypes was investigated in anti-HCV-positive patients admitted to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital during 1994 and 1995. One hundred and forty-nine sera from three groups of anti-HCV-positive patients (N = 78) were analysed. These included: (i) patients with various liver diseases; (ii) patients admitted to the renal unit; and (iii) a miscellaneous group of patients for whom HCV antibody screening was requested. Twenty-six patients (33%) tested positive for viral RNA. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of these patients showed that HCV genotypes 1, 2 and 5 were present. Type 2 (35%) was the dominant genotype in the region served by Ga-Rankuwa Hospital. In a large proportion of viral RNA-positive patients (27%), the polymerase chain reaction product could not be digested with one of the sets of enzymes, and therefore could not be classified into genotypes 1 to 6. Further studies are now in progress to enhance our current knowledge of the epidemiology of HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Medical University of Southern Africa.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Sithebe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aspinall
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Smuts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral