title: Infection with GB virus C and hepatitis C virus in drug addicts, patients on maintenance hemodialysis, or with chronic liver disease in Nepal.
abstract: Infection with GB virus C (GBV-C) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) was surveyed in various populations in Kathmandu, Nepal. GBV-C RNA and HCV RNA were detected in four (2%) and none, respectively, of 181 normal controls. Viral RNAs were detected significantly more frequently (P < 0.001) in 32 (44%) and 43 (60%), respectively, of 72 users of illicit intravenous drug, and in three (14%) and one (5%) of 22 patients on maintenance hemodialysis. The three hemodialysis patients with GBV-C RNA had been transfused with more blood units than the 19 without GBV-C RNA (51 +/- 21 vs. 5 +/- 3 units, P < 0.01), and one was co-infected with HCV. Of 145 patients with chronic liver disease, GBV-C RNA was detected in four (3%) and HCV RNA in 12 (8%); only one patient with GBV-C RNA was without markers of HCV or hepatitis B virus infection. In the 32 drug addicts infected with GBV-C, genotypes were G1 in two (6%), G2 in 26 (81%), G3 in three (9%), and the remaining one (3%) was coinfected with G2 and G3. GBV-C genotypes in the 13 individuals in the populations other than drug addicts were G2 in 11 (85%) and G3 in two (15%). HCV genotypes in the 43 drug addicts with viremia were l/1a in 21 (49%), V/3a in 19 (44%) and l/1a plus V/3a in two (5%); these genotypes were not prevalent in normal controls and patients with chronic liver disease in Nepal. These results indicate that GBV-C infection is prevalent in healthy subjects in Nepal at a frequency (2%) comparable with those in the other countries and that GBV-C transmits efficiently by intravenous drug abuse among drug addicts and by transfusion in hemodialysis patients.
authors.affiliation: Liver Foundation Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayumi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000821:virology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral