Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis B virus in Amsterdam 1992–1997*

Abstract

To gain insight into the spread of hepatitis B among various risk groups in Amsterdam a 6-year (1992-1997) retrospective DNA sequencing study was carried out on isolates from stored sera from reported primary cases of acute hepatitis B infection. Cases were classified according to risk behavior, as determined in interviews. Of the available serum, a selected region of hepatitis B-virus-DNA was amplified and sequenced. The nucleotide alignments were subjected to phylogenetic tree analysis. When nucleotide alignments were subjected to phylogenetic analysis, the strains of 54 isolates, 26% of the 204 reported primary cases, clustered in five genotypes: A, C, D, E, and F. In genotype A, a cluster related to men having sex with men was identified. In genotype D, two subclusters could be identified: one was related to injecting drug use and another was related to the Moroccan population in Amsterdam. The remaining strains showed a high genetic variability within three different genotypes: F, E, and C. Of the 14 identical isolates in the "homosexual men cluster," one was isolated from a female heterosexual. Of the 14 identical strains in the "drug users strain," six were from non-drug using heterosexual active individuals. In the cluster of twelve isolates related to hepatitis B-endemic areas, probable modes of transmission were varied. Sequence analysis provides important insight into the spread of hepatitis B among various high-risk groups. The analysis indicates that the prevention strategy in The Netherlands fails to stop transmission of hepatitis B from persistently infected individuals originating from hepatitis B endemic countries.

Molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of hepatitis B virus genotype E in an isolated Afro-Colombian community

“…It is already known that genotype E is largely found only in Africa or African descendents and is very rare in any other continent. Currently, the few HBV/E carriers found outside Africa were recent travellers from this continent (Halfon et al, 2006;Palumbo et al, 2007;Toro et al, 2006;Liu et al, 2001;van Steenbergen et al, 2002;Mathet et al, 2006;Sitnik et al, 2007;Kato et al, 2004). The fact that Quibdó (the Colombian city from where the samples in this work were isolated) inhabitants are descendent from the slaves that arrived in America up to the beginning of the 19th century raises the question of when this genotype was introduced in this population.…”

“…In Europe, sporadic genotype E strains were reported from France (Halfon et al, 2006), Italy (Palumbo et al, 2007), Spain (Toro et al, 2006), Belgium (Liu et al, 2001) and The Netherlands (van Steenbergen et al, 2002). Others cases were reported in Argentina (Mathet et al, 2006), Brazil (Sitnik et al, 2007) and the USA (Kato et al, 2004).…”

Low Genetic Diversity despite Hyperendemicity of Hepatitis B Virus Genotype E throughout West Africa

“…Except for single sporadic cases in Africans living in northern Europe [37], Belgium [16], and The Netherlands [17], HBV/E has not been found outside of Africa. Despite the forced migration of slave labor from west Africa to the western hemisphere, genotype E has not been reported in that continent.…”

“…This explains the 15% genetic diversity of human HBV and accounts for a number of genetically distinct genotypes, designated A-H. Most genotypes show a more or less distinct geographic distribution: genotype A is prevalent in the United States [4,5], in northern and central Europe, and in South Africa [6]; genotypes [7][8][9]; genotype G has only recently been discovered in France [10] and in the United States in patients coinfected with genotype A [11,12]; and genotype E (serotype ayw4) has been reported to be mainly in west Africa [13][14][15][16][17], but information on the prevalence of HBV genotypes throughout sub-Saharan Africa is very limited. Here, we report the PreS/S sequences of the 5 -end of the PreS1, PreS2, and S genes from 7 west African countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC]).…”

Molecular Genetic Diversity of Hepatitis B Virus in Kenya

“…The clinical significance of HBV genotypes is a subject of discussion. It has been suggested that infection by HBV genotype A could be more frequently associated with chronic infection than genotype D [12,13] . While genotype A appears to respond better to interferon treatment, compared to genotype D, it also generates a higher rate of viral resistance during treatment [14] .…”