3 research outputs found
High proportion of hepatitis C virus genotypes 1 and 3 in a large cohort of patients from Southern Brazil
High proportion of hepatitis C virus genotypes 1 and 3 in a large cohort of patients from Southern Brazil
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) isolates have been divided into six genotypes
(1 to 6). The duration of hepatitis C standard treatment is 48 weeks
for patients infected with HCV genotype 1 vs 24 weeks for those
infected with genotypes 2 and 3. A total of 1544 HCV isolates from
chronic patients living in the southern Brazilian states of Rio Grande
do Sul (RS, n = 627) and Santa Catarina (SC, n = 917) were genotyped by
restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) products. In RS, 338 (53.9%; 95% CI 50.0 - 57.8%), 34
(5.4%; 95% CI 3.8 - 7.4%) and, 255 (40.7%; 95% CI 36.9 - 44.6%) samples
were from genotypes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In SC, 468 (51%; 95% CI
47.8 - 54.2%), 26 (2.9%; 95% CI 1.9 - 4.1%) and, 423 (46.1%; 95% CI
42.9 - 49.3%) samples were from genotypes 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Genotyping results were confirmed by direct nucleotide sequencing of
PCR products derived from 68 samples, without any discrepancy between
PCR-RFLP and nucleotide sequencing methods. In conclusion, almost half
of the hepatitis C patients from South of Brazil are infected by
genotypes 2 and 3 and, these results have important consequential
therapeutic implications as they can be treated for only 24 weeks, not
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