Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Association of Medical Microbiology
Abstract
Purpose: To determine anti-HCV antibodies and genomic subtype of HCV in
1487 confirmed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive samples.
Methods: A total of 1487 confirmed HIV-positive samples were tested for
anti-HCV antibodies by using a third generation ELISA kit (Ortho 3.0)
and by RT PCR for HCV. HIV and HCV coinfected samples were selected for
HCV genotyping by RFLP and subtyping with NS5-type specific primers.
Results: A total of 1487 HIV-infected serum samples were screened for
HCV infection, of which, a 1443 (97.04%) were negative and 45 (3.02%)
were coinfected. HIV-HCV coinfection was predominant in the age group
41-50 years (51.1%). HCV genotyping and subtyping was done for the 45
HCV RNA-positive specimens of which genotype 1 was observed in 31
(68.8%) and genotype 3 was observed in 14 (31.1%) subjects. Further
subtyping analysis showed the genotype 1b in 23 (51.1%), 1a in eight
(17.7%), 3a in 10 (22.2%) and 3b in four (8.8%) subjects. Conclusion:
HIV and HCV seroprevalence is higher in South India, and the most
prevalent genotype in coinfection was genotype 1b