Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis A virus in the South-East area of Gyeonggi-do in Korea.
OBJECTIVE
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) has been a leading cause of acute hepatitis in Korea. The reported genotypes of acute hepatitis A in Korea are the subgenotype IA and IB. The aim of the present study is to investigate HAV genotypes in the south-east area of Gyeonggi-do in Korea.


METHODS
From June 2004 to June 2006, 46 acute hepatitis A patients were enrolled prospectively. All had sporadic acute hepatitis A patients. All suspected cases of acute hepatitis A were tested for IgM anti-HAV antibodies. We sequenced 168 bp of nucleotides of the putative VP1/P2A junction and determined the HAV genotype with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The clinical and laboratory results of all patients were recorded.


RESULTS
HAV-ribonucleic acid (RNA) was detected in 41 samples out of 46 samples. Among the 41 samples, 25 (60%) were shown to have subgenotype IIIA and the other 16 (40%) were subgenotype IA. Several amino acid substitutions were found.


CONCLUSIONS
In these HAV sporadic cases, IIIA and IA were identified, and this may reflect co-circulation of various genotypes in Korea. This study provides valuable new data on the genetic distribution of HAV and important information to help design appropriate public health measures.
Song
Han Ul
HU
Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Pochon CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
Hwang
Seong Gyu
SG
Kwon
Chang-Il
CI
Lee
Ji Eun
JE
Ko
Kwang Hyun
KH
Hong
Sung Pyo
SP
Park
Phil Won
PW
Rim
Kyu Sung
KS
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D017957:Hepatitis A Virus, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction