title: Diagnostically untypable hepatitis C virus variants: it is time to resolve the problem.
abstract: Pakistan is a low income country with more than 10 million hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and the burden is on continuous raise. Accurate viral genotyping is very critical for proper treatment of the infected individuals as the sustained virological response of the standard antiviral interferon therapy is genotype dependent. We observed at our diagnostic center that 15.6% of HCV patient's samples were not genotype-able by using Ohno et al method. The genotyped samples showed that 3a (68.3%) is the major prevalent genotype in Pakistan followed by 2a (10.3%), 3b (2.6%), 1b (1.5%), 2b (1.2%) and 1a (0.5%). Presence of large number of untypable HCV variants in the current study highlights an important issue of health care setup in Pakistan. Untypable HCV cases create difficulties in treatment of these patients. The problem of routine diagnostics setup of Pakistan should be addressed on priority basis to facilitate the medical professionals in patient's treatment and to help in achieving the maximum sustained virological response.
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Sadia Anjum, Najm us Sahar Sadaf Zaidi, Atta Ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Sohail
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Afzal
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Sadia Anjum, Najm us Sahar Sadaf Zaidi, Atta Ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Yousaf
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Sadia Anjum, Najm us Sahar Sadaf Zaidi, Atta Ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ammar
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Sadia Anjum, Najm us Sahar Sadaf Zaidi, Atta Ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sadia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anjum
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Sohail Afzal, Sadia Anjum, Najm us Sahar Sadaf Zaidi, Atta Ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Najm Us Sahar Sadaf
authors.initials: NU
authors.lastname: Zaidi
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003906:Developing Countries; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents
keywords: Antiviral interferon therapy; Diagnostics; Genotypes; Hepatitis C virus; Pakistan; Untypable variants