Infection with Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 4 in the United States

Abstract

As with other HCV genotypes, most patients with HCV genotype 4 in the United States acquire the infection through intravenous drug use, liver disease is often mild to moderate in severity and 59% of our patients had a sustained virologic response after combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin.

Pegylated interferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin in patients with genotype 4 chronic hepatitis C: The role of rapid and early virologic response

“…The dose of PEG-IFN alpha-2b was reduced stepwise from 1.5 to 1 g/kg/week if the neutrophil count was lower than 1000 cells/mm 3 or if the platelet count was lower than 60,000 cells/mm 3 . An additional dose reduction to 0.5 g/kg/week for platelet counts lower than 55,000 cells/mm 3 was permissible at the discretion of the EVR, early virologic response; PEG-IFN, pegylated interferon; RBV, ribavirin; and RVR, rapid virologic response.…”

“…2 Furthermore, recent epidemiological reports indicate that HCV genotype 4 is beginning to spread from its native African and Middle Eastern origins into countries of Southern Europe such as France, Italy, and Spain and in some foci in the United States, particularly among intravenous drug users. [3][4][5] Genotype 4 is the least studied of the HCV variants and until recently has been considered difficult to treat because conventional interferon monotherapy has resulted in disappointing virologic responses. [6][7][8] However, recent reports show that a combination therapy with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alpha and ribavirin markedly improves treatment outcomes, resulting in a sustained virologic response (SVR) in 44%-69% of cases.…”

Complete genomic sequences for hepatitis C virus subtypes 4b, 4c, 4d, 4g, 4k, 4l, 4m, 4n, 4o, 4p, 4q, 4r and 4t

“…Recently, a variety of these strains have been found in Southern European countries on the Mediterranean Sea (Ansaldi et al, 2005;Fernández-Arcás et al, 2006;Franco et al, 2007;Katsoulidou et al, 2006;Nicot et al, 2005;Payan et al, 2005). Although infection due to genotype 4 is not common in the USA and Canada, most of the reported cases were clustered among IDUs or immigrants from countries where HCV-4 is known to be most prevalent or among individuals who acquired the infection in these countries (Lyra et al, 2004;Timm et al, 2007;Zein et al, 1996). In this study, 11 of the 13 complete genomic sequences determined were from immigrants living in Canada.…”

DETECTION OF IL-28 rs 12979860 GENE POLYMORPHISM BY REAL TIME PCR IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA PATIENTS.

“…, 2007). HCC represents the main complication of cirrhosis, and shows a growing incidence in Egypt, which may be the result of a shift in the relative importance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HCV as primary risk factors (Ray et al,2001) and improvements in screening programs and diagnostic tools (Lyra et al, 2004). HCC represents an important public health problem in Egypt.…”