Author/Editor		Seme, Katja; Poljak, Mario; Lešničar, Gorazd; Brinovec, Vladimir; Štepec, Srečko; Koren, Srečko
Title		Distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes in Slovenia
Type		članek
Source		Scand J Infect Dis
Vol. and No.		Letnik 29
Publication year		1997
Volume		str. 29-31
Language		eng
Abstract		To determine the prevalence of HCV genotypes in Slovenia, 203 subjects infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) were studied using the Inno-Lipa HCV II assay (Innogenetics, Belgium). Of 21 patients infected by blood transfusion 19% had HCV subtype 1a, 81% had subtype 1b, and none of them was infected with genotype 3. In chronic hepatitis C patients infected by unknown cause subtype 1b was the most prevalent (54.4%), followed by subtype 1a (24.6%), genotype 3 (15.8%) and genotype 2 (5.2%). Genotype 3 (45.9%) and subtype 1a (43.2%) predominated among 74 intravenous drug users. In 37 hemodialysis patients genotypes 1 and 2 were almost equally frequent (40.5% and 37.8%, respectively), followed by genotype 3 (21.6%). Significant differences in HCV genotype distribution among distinct epidemiological groups observed in Slovenia indicate a close relationship between certain HCV genotypes and particular routes of viral transmission.
Descriptors		HEPATITIS C HEPATITIS C-LIKE VIRUSES GENOTYPE SLOVENIA