New Epidemiologic Data Regarding Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Romania

Abstract

Background & Aims: Literature data suggest that HCV genotype-1b is present in 93-99% of the Romanian patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). We present the genotyping tests recently performed on patients with HCV and advanced fibrosis eligible for the Direct-Acting Antiviral (DAA) therapy, as well as the prevalence of these cases across Romania.Methods: The genotyping method was performed on 7,421 HCV patients with advanced fibrosis. The detection method was automatic real time PCR platform M2000 (Abbott). Every subject was introduced into a database including age, sex, county and address.Results: Genotype 1b was almost exclusively present: 7,392/7,421 (99.6%). Genotype 1b patients were 19.6% from Bucharest, 49% were males, with a median age of 60 years. Genotype non-1b was encountered in 29/7,421 subjects (0.4%), 62% were males, 69% from Bucharest and the median age was 52 years. Most of the subjects (75%) were in the 6th and 7th age decade. The prevalence of these cases varied significantly across Romanian counties: the highest was in Bucharest (61.3/105), Bihor (47/105), Iasi (46/105) and Constanța (43/105), and the lowest in Ilfov (2.8/105), Harghita (3.7/105), Covasna (5.4/105) and Maramureș (8.8/105) (p<0.001).Conclusions: Genotype 1b is encountered in 99.6% of patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced fibrosis from Romania. The presence of genotypes non-1b is more common in Bucharest, in males and at a younger age. There are significant differences regarding the distribution of these cases across Romania: the highest rates are in Bucharest, Bihor, Iasi and Constanta.Abbreviations: BMI: body mass index; DAA: direct-acting antiviral agent; GT: genotype; HBV: hepatitis B virus; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; HCV: hepatitis C virus; IDU: intravenous drug users; MELD: model for end stage liver disease; NASH: non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; SVR; sustained virologic response.

Efficacy and Safety of Ledispavir/Sofosbuvir with or without Ribavirin in patients with Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatitis C Infection: a Cohort Study

“…The patients were enrolled for treatment with LDV/SOF with or without RBV according to the therapeutic guidelines of the EASL and the manufacturer's recommendations [7].…”

“…In R o m a n i a , t h e e s t i m a t e d prevalence of chronic HCV according to data published in 2010 was approximately 4% [3], but it is decreasing now due to reimbursed direct directantiviral agents (DAAs), received by approximately 35,000 patients with more than a 96% sustained virologic response (SVR) rate [4][5][6]. In Romania, genotype 1b is almost exclusively present among the infected patients [7].…”

Clinical and histopathological changes in different KIR gene profiles in chronic HCV Romanian patients

“…Previous data show that in the Romanian population HCV genotype 1b is present in 99,6% of the cases, particularly in patients with the age around 60 (Manuc et al, 2017).…”

“…This reality is due to several factors such as past unsterile medical procedures, drug use or high sex practices with multiple partners over the years (Gheorghe et al., 2017). Previous data show that in the Romanian population HCV genotype 1b is present in 99,6% of the cases, particularly in patients with the age around 60 (Manuc et al., 2017).…”

HLA Alleles and KIR Genes in Romanian Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

“…Currently worldwide around 71 million individuals are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), some of them being under a significant risk of developing liver cirrhosis and hepatic tumors [1]. According to current estimates based on HCV serology, the prevalence of 4.5 -4.9% of HCV infection in the general population in Romania represents one of the highest figures in Europe [2,3].…”