Spread of hepatitis C virus among European injection drug users infected with HIV: a phylogenetic analysis.
To describe the spread of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among HCV/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-coinfected injection drug users (IDUs), the molecular epidemiology of HCV was studied among 108 IDUs from 7 European countries. Phylogenetic analysis based on the NS5B region showed great sequence variation of HCV within each country and no clear phylogenetic clustering by geographic region. The most prevalent subtypes were 1a and 3a, but the percentage of genotype 4 was also relatively high, ranging from 7% in northern Europe to 24% in southern Europe. Genotype 4 consisted mainly of subtype 4d and has entered the majority of the IDU populations studied. The significantly lower evolutionary distances within subtype 4d suggest that this subtype may have entered the European IDU population relatively recently. In conclusion, HCV exchange between European IDU populations has occurred on a large scale, and, overall, country-specific clustering for HCV was less than that shown for HIV.
van Asten
Liselotte
L
Municipal Health Service, Cluster of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. LvAsten@GGGD.Amsterdam.nl
Verhaest
Inge
I
Lamzira
Saida
S
Hernandez-Aguado
Ildefonso
I
Zangerle
Robert
R
Boufassa
Faroudy
F
Rezza
Giovanni
G
Broers
Barbara
B
Robertson
J Roy
JR
Brettle
Raymond P
RP
McMenamin
Jim
J
Prins
Maria
M
Cochrane
Alexandra
A
Simmonds
Peter
P
Coutinho
Roel A
RA
Bruisten
Sylvia
S
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000821:virology*; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
D012367:RNA, Viral; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase