title: Hepatitis C virus genotype 6: virology, epidemiology, genetic variation and clinical implication.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a serious public health problem affecting 170 million carriers worldwide. It is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer and is the primary cause for liver transplantation worldwide. HCV genotype 6 (HCV-6) is restricted to South China, South-East Asia, and it is also occasionally found in migrant patients from endemic countries. HCV-6 has considerable genetic diversity with 23 subtypes (a to w). Although direct sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis is the gold standard for HCV-6 genotyping and subtyping, there are also now rapid genotyping tests available such as the reverse hybridization line probe assay (INNO-LiPA II; Innogenetics, Zwijnaarde, Belgium). HCV-6 patients present with similar clinical manifestations as patients infected with other genotypes. Based on current evidence, the optimal treatment duration of HCV-6 with pegylated interferon/ribavirin should be 48 wk, although a shortened treatment duration of 24 wk could be sufficient in patients with low pretreatment viral load who achieve rapid virological response. In addition, the development of direct-acting antiviral agents is ongoing, and they give high response rate when combined with standard therapy. Herein, we review the epidemiology, classification, diagnosis and treatment as it pertain to HCV-6.
authors.affiliation: Vo Duy Thong, Srunthron Akkarathamrongsin, Yong Poovorawan, Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Vo Duy
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Thong
authors.affiliation: Vo Duy Thong, Srunthron Akkarathamrongsin, Yong Poovorawan, Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Srunthron
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akkarathamrongsin
authors.affiliation: Vo Duy Thong, Srunthron Akkarathamrongsin, Yong Poovorawan, Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Kittiyod
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Poovorawan
authors.affiliation: Vo Duy Thong, Srunthron Akkarathamrongsin, Yong Poovorawan, Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Pisit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tangkijvanich
authors.affiliation: Vo Duy Thong, Srunthron Akkarathamrongsin, Yong Poovorawan, Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Poovorawan
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005838:Genotype; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000095022:Interferon Lambda
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins; C000624353:interferon-lambda, human; D000095022:Interferon Lambda
keywords: Clinical; Epidemiology; Genotype 6; Hepatitis C virus; Treatment