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

Abstract

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.

Investigating the Origin and Spread of Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 5a

“…Genotype 5a is commonly found in the northern part of South Africa (19), but it is also sporadically found elsewhere, e.g., in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, and Spain (2,3,13,16). In 2004, a high prevalence of HCV genotype 5a was reported in Central France (9), where it was the third most frequent genotype at 14.2%.…”

Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 5a Subgenomic Replicons for Evaluation of Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents

“…This genotype is restricted mainly to South Africa (15) and has been associated with sporadic cases of HCV infection in Canada, Brazil, The Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium (16)(17)(18). In 2004, a high prevalence of genotype 5a was reported in central France (19). These findings highlight the importance of developing an in vitro replication system for this genotype.…”

HCV genotype 5: Epidemiology and spread of an uncommon genotype

“…After a few reports on sporadic HCV genotype 5 infections in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Germany ( [Davidson et al, 1995], [Levi et al, 2002], [Murphy et al, 1994] and [Ross et al, 2000]), recent studies demonstrate that pockets of HCV genotype 5 infections can be found worldwide. Three European studies report an unusually high and local prevalence of HCV genotype 5 in Spain (Jover et al, 2001), in Belgium (Verbeeck et al, 2006) and in France (Henquell et al, 2004). Interestingly, these three studies show a high and very local prevalence ranging from 10.3% to 27.7% in areas characterized by close-knit societies; a higher mean age associated with HCV genotype 5 infections compared to other HCV genotype infections and transmission routes related to blood transfusion and hemodialysis, or unknown transmission.…”