Changes in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 in Calabria, Southern Italy

Matera, Giovanni; Lamberti, Angelo Giuseppe; Quirino, Angela; Focà, Domenico; Giancotti, A; Barreca, Giorgio Settimo; Guadagnino, Vincenzo; Liberto, Maria Carla

doi:10.1016/s0732-8893(01)00350-9

Cited by 66 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Genotype 4 is also the predominant HCV genotype in Saudi Arabia, comprising 50-75% of infections [Shobokshi et al, 1999]. The prevalence of genotype 4 in Europe generally does not exceed 5% [Nguyen and Keeffe, 2005], with a rate of 3.8% in southern Italy [Matera et al, 2002], 3.6% in Germany [Schroter et al, 2002], and 2.6% in France [Remy et al, 1998]. One of the highest rates, 9.4%, was reported in Galicia, Spain, but the main route of infection in that population was intravenous drug use [Martinez et al, 2005].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High prevalence of genotype 4 among hepatitis C virus‐infected intravenous drug users in North‐Eastern Poland

Chlabicz¹,

Flisiak²,

Kowalczuk³

et al. 2008

Journal of Medical Virology

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The aim of this study was to describe the distribution of hepatitis C genotypes among intravenous drug users in north-eastern Poland. The study group included intravenous drug users recruited at a drug treatment center and a clinic for HIV-infected patients. HCV infection was confirmed by qualitative nested RT-PCR to test for the presence of HCV RNA. Genotypes were determined by 5'UTR sequencing and comparing the results with known genotype sequences. Among 111 HCV-infected and HCV-RNA-positive intravenous drug users, the most prevalent genotypes were 1 (38.7%), 3 (37.8%), and 4 (23.4%). Most infections with genotype 4 (88.5%) were found among HCV-HIV-coinfected drug users. The study demonstrated a high prevalence of genotype 4 (23.4%) among HCV-infected Polish drug users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High prevalence of genotype 4 among hepatitis C virus‐infected intravenous drug users in North‐Eastern Poland

Chlabicz¹,

Flisiak²,

Kowalczuk³

et al. 2008

Journal of Medical Virology

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“…HCV genotype 4 (HCV-4) is prevalent in the Middle East and in central Africa. But the clinical importance of genotype 4 is now increasing in European countries [Garcia et al, 1998;Morice et al, 2001;Matera et al, 2002;Schroter et al, 2002;van Asten et al, 2004]. HCV-4 has been introduced by immigration and seems to spread among IV drug users (IVDU).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 4 infection

Abravanel

Nicot

Boulestin

et al. 2005

Journal of Medical Virology

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Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is classified into six genotypes. Genotype 4 is now spreading in Europe, especially among drug users, who are often infected with both HCV and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Previous studies have shown that HCV-4 responds poorly to interferon. Pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) associated with ribavirin is now the most effective treatment for eradicating the virus. We have now studied the response of HCV-4 to peg-IFN and ribavirin and investigated the influence of HIV infection on anti-HCV therapy. Twenty-eight patients infected with HCV-4 were given peg-IFN plus ribavirin for 48 weeks. Patients infected with HCV alone tended to have a better initial response (66%) than patients infected with both HCV and HIV (30%, P = 0.06) and eradication was better (50%) than in doubly infected patients (15%, P = 0.06). After controlling for major factors influencing virus response, the virus response 12 weeks after the beginning of treatment in patients infected with HCV-4 (50%) was similar to that of patients infected with genotype 1 (53%) and lower than that of patients infected with genotypes 2 or 3 (82%, P < 0.05). The response 24 weeks after the end of therapy in patients infected with HCV-4 (32%) was similar to that of patients infected with HCV-1 (28%) and lower than that of patients with HCV-2 or HCV-3 (62% P < 0.05). These results indicate that HCV-4 patients should be considered to be difficult-to-treat.

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“…Some rare genotypes have recently emerged in the Western world. Genotype 4 has been reported to exist in France, in the northern Parisian suburbs (20), in the south of Spain (27), and in Italy (18). In 2001, an unusually high prevalence of genotype 5 was reported for the region of Alicante in Spain (13).…”

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confidence: 99%

High Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Type 5 in Central France Evidenced by a Prospective Study from 1996 to 2002

et al. 2004

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From 1996 to 2002, hepatitis C virus (HCV) typing was prospectively performed for 1,281 unselected HCV-infected and viremic patients, irrespective of their clinical status. Eighty-three patients (6.5%) were coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HCV. A total of 1,195 strains were identified by a serotype screening (Murex HCV Serotyping 1-6 assay) and/or genotyping (Inno-LiPA HCV II) test. The distribution of HCV types showed an unusually high rate of type 5 (14.2%) that was stable over time and was the third most frequent type, after type 1 (59.1%) and type 3 (15.1%). HCV type 5 was more frequent in patients who were older than 50 (P ‫؍‬ 10 ؊6 ), but its frequency did not differ significantly by gender (P ‫؍‬ 0.21). Serotyping was performed for 1,160 strains but failed for 30.2% of them. The efficiency depended on HIV status (for HCV-HIV-coinfected patients, half of the strains were untypeable) and HCV type. Genotyping was performed for 428 samples, with an overall efficiency of 99.3%. It failed in three cases, which were subsequently identified as HCV type 2. Serotyping and genotyping results for 39 patients showed discrepancies between the two methods for 4 patients, who had HCV type 2, type 6, or mixed infections. Thus, HCV type 5 may also be encountered frequently in Western countries. Its apparent confinement to a restricted area raises the question of how it emerged and underscores the need for further studies of HCV type prevalence, routes of transmission, pathogenicity, and responses to treatment.

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Changes in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 in Calabria, Southern Italy

Cited by 66 publications

References 15 publications

High prevalence of genotype 4 among hepatitis C virus‐infected intravenous drug users in North‐Eastern Poland

High prevalence of genotype 4 among hepatitis C virus‐infected intravenous drug users in North‐Eastern Poland

Pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 4 infection

High Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Type 5 in Central France Evidenced by a Prospective Study from 1996 to 2002

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