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Change in hepatitis C virus genotype in injecting drug users
Author(s) -
Aitken Campbell,
McCaw Rhonda,
Jardine Darren,
Bowden Scott,
Higgs Peter,
Nguyen Oanh,
Crofts Nick,
Hellard Margaret
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.20212
Subject(s) - genotype , hepatitis c virus , virology , hepatitis c , incidence (geometry) , medicine , transmission (telecommunications) , drug , hepacivirus , immunology , virus , biology , genetics , pharmacology , gene , physics , electrical engineering , optics , engineering
Six major genotypes of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been described; it is assumed to be uncommon for genotypes to change in chronically infected individuals. Venous blood samples obtained from Vietnamese‐Australian injecting drug users who participated in successive studies conducted in Melbourne, Australia, were genotyped using the Bayer line probe assay and genotype confirmed by sequencing whenever possible. Three changes of HCV genotype were observed, and one infection in an individual not exposed previously. The rate of change of genotype was 3 in 11.4 person‐years (py), or 26.4 per 100 py (95% CI: 8.5, 81.6). Traditionally‐calculated HCV incidence was 1 in 4.3 py, or 23.3 per 100 py (95% CI: 3.3, 165.1). These data imply that HCV genotype change in injecting drug users occurs at least as frequently as infections in naïve individuals, and that traditionally‐calculated HCV incidence rates represent a minority of actual HCV transmission among practicing injecting drug users. J. Med. Virol. 74:543–545, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.