“…The presence of HCV antibodies was determined and confirmed using two third-generation HCV EIA assays (Axsym ® HCV Version 3.0, Abbott, Wiesbaden, Germany and Vitros ® Anti-HCV reagent pack, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostic, High Wycombe, United Kingdom). HCV RNA was determined with a qualitative commercial assay (Cobas Amplicor HCV test Version 2.0, Roche Diagnostics, Meylan, France) and HCV genotyping was performed by direct sequencing, as described elsewhere [34]. The genotypes were distributed as follows: 11, 11, 11, 12, 10 and 2 samples of types 1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively.…”