[Hepatitis GB virus C infection in Japanese hemophiliacs with persistent hepatitis C virus infection].
We investigated the prevalence of infection of GBV-C, which has been cloned recently and is considered a parenterally transmissible virus. Ninety-one Japanese hemophiliacs who were persistently infected with HCV were evaluated. The presence of GBV-C RNA was measured by nested RT-PCR. We analyzed the prevalence and the association with subtypes of coinfected HCV. 20.9% of hemophiliacs were infected with GBV-C. The distribution of HCV subtypes of patients who are coinfected with GBV-C was similar to that of patients who are coinfected with HIV, and the prevalence of GBV-C infection of patients with HCV subtype la was significantly higher than that of patients without HCV subtype la. High prevalence of GBV-C infection was observed in Japanese hemophiliacs, and most were thought to be imported isolates from foreign origins, as well as HIV infection in these patients.
Toyoda
H
H
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya University, School of Medicine.
Fukuda
Y
Y
Hayakawa
T
T
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000150:complications*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D065227:Transfusion Reaction