title: Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis A virus in the South-East area of Gyeonggi-do in Korea.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Pochon CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Han Ul
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Seong Gyu
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Chang-Il
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Ji Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kwang Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Sung Pyo
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Phil Won
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kyu Sung
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Rim
mesh_terms: 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