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Published on: June 26, 2020
New infection with heterotypic hepatitis C virus in a patient with long-term hepatitis C virus eradication
M S De Mitri1, R Cassini, G Morsica
1Department of Internal Medicine, Cardioangiology, Hepatology, University of Bologna, Italy. sdemitri@almadns.unibo.it
Background:
Experimental hepatitis C virus infection in chimpanzees has shown that natural hepatitis C virus infection does not induce protective immunity and reinfection can occur in seroconverted animals.
Aim:
To study the clinical, virological and histological outcome of a new infection sustained by a different hepatitis C virus strain after a primary infection with eradication of the original virus.
Patients And Methods:
A young Italian man with chronic hepatitis C virus type 4 hepatitis was treated with Interferon therapy and achieved a sustained biochemical and virological response. After long follow-up, an asymptomatic flare-up of alanine transaminase occurred. This alanine transaminase increase was associated with serum hepatitis C virus RNA positivity and a low viral load, and the infecting hepatitis C virus genotype was type 3. The clinical and virological course of this new infection is described.
Results And Conclusions:
This report shows that there is no protective immunity against hepatitis C virus type 3 after infection by hepatitis C virus type 4 strain.
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