Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus subtype 3a in injecting drug users.
Hepatitis C virus subtype 3a (HCV-3a) originates from Asia and has spread widely among injecting drug users as well as other patient groups in industrialized countries. HCV subtype 3a infection remains highly prevalent and frequently transmitted in the population of intravenous drug users. The objective of this study was to understand better the mechanisms of the worldwide HCV-3a epidemics in drug users. Ninety-three sera from HCV-3a-infected IDUs from France, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia were studied. Phylogenetic analyses of the non-structural 5B region showed no specific clustering according to the continent of the patient's origin. Non-exclusive clusters of viral sequences from South America, Australia, and California were observed, but topologies were not supported by strong bootstrap values. The results suggest that HCV-3a has been transmitted from a common origin through a unique worldwide epidemic that rapidly spread among drug users. Regional transmission occurred in the recent past, leading to an embryonic genetic diversification of HCV-3a among local injecting drug user population.
Morice
Yoann
Y
Department of Virology & INSERM U635, French National Reference Center for Viral Hepatitis B, C and delta, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Université Paris 12, Créteil, France.
Cantaloube
Jean-François
JF
Beaucourt
Stéphanie
S
Barbotte
Laetitia
L
De Gendt
Sija
S
Goncales
Fernando Lopes
FL
Butterworth
Lesley
L
Cooksley
Graham
G
Gish
Robert G
RG
Beaugrand
Michel
M
Fay
Fabian
F
Fay
Oscar
O
Gonzalez
Jorge E
JE
Martins
Regina Maria Bringel
RM
Dhumeaux
Daniel
D
Vanderborght
Bart
B
Stuyver
Lieven
L
Sablon
Erwin
E
de Lamballerie
Xavier
X
Pawlotsky
Jean-Michel
JM
D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; 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