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Serotyping and genotyping of hepatitis C virus in Belgium
1Dept. of Microbiology, Section Virology, Scientific Institute of Public Health, Juliette Wytsmanstrasse 14, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. liesbet.decock@iph.fgov.be
Background:
Given that both pathogenicity and the response to treatment are possibly associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) serotype, it appeared sensible to establish the prevalence of the different HCV types in Belgium.
Materials And Methods:
The HCV serotypes were determined in 68 HCV-RNA and anti-HCV-positive samples taken from Belgian patients and compared with the results of the genotyping assay. Possible associations with age and sex were investigated.
Results:
Antibodies were identified in 55 (80.9%) of the 68 samples, with serotype 1 (58.8%) and serotype 3 (19.1%) showing the highest prevalence. 17 samples contained several serotypes with serotype 1 being detected in 82.4% of cases. Nine of the 11 samples undetermined by serotyping could be determined by genotyping. There was no significant difference in the distribution of HCV types with respect to gender. Compared with genotype 3 (p < 0.01) and genotypes 2 and 4 (p = 0.05), genotype 1 was detected among older patients.
Conclusion:
Our data showed a 96.0% correlation between the serotyping and genotyping assays. Genotypes 1 and 3 are the most prevalent types among Belgian patients. The data suggest that genotype 1 spread earlier than genotypes 2, 3 and 4. This corroborates previous European studies.
