title: Molecular epidemiology of health care-associated transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses.
abstract: The term "molecular epidemiology" has been ascribed to a host of different activities that involve gene-sequence analysis. Some examples of molecular epidemiology include modeling exercises of phylogenetic trees to reconstruct epidemics; studies of the evolution of hepatitis C virus (HCV); rates of nucleotide substitution in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface (S) gene; variations in the core promoter/pre-core/core region of HBV genotype C from different sources; analysis of HBV surface antigen mutations; molecular clock analyses of the short-term evolution of HCV; and analyses of clades and surface antigen polymorphisms of HBV. However, for most epidemiologists molecular epidemiology of viral hepatitis usually refers to studies of gene-sequence homology in HBV or HCV recovered from people in the community or an institution that allows better characterization and assignment of related clusters of infection.
authors.affiliation: Division of Viral Hepatitis, National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, TB, and STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Mailstop G-37; 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. sdh1@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Holmberg
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology