Grace Hui-Min Wu1, Wen-Wen Yang2, Chia-Ling Liu2, Raoh-Fang Pwu3, Rong-Nan Chien4, Po-Chang Lee5, Shih-Chung Chen6, Ding-Shinn Chen7, Sheng-Nan Lu8. 1. Taiwan National Hepatitis C Program Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. 2. Taiwan National Hepatitis C Program Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan. 3. Taiwan National Hepatitis C Program Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Health Care Administration, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. 4. Taiwan National Hepatitis C Program Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan; Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan. 5. National Health Insurance Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan; Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center, Taipei, Taiwan; Medical College, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. 6. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan. 7. Taiwan National Hepatitis C Program Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. 8. Taiwan National Hepatitis C Program Office, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan; Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: juten@ms17.hinet.net.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE: This study aims at investigating the epidemiological profile of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) regarding hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype in Taiwan. METHODS: A total of 29,087 CHC patients with advanced fibrosis who received direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) therapy under Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) during 2017-2018 were recruited. The HCV genotype distribution and its association with patients' demographic factors including age, gender, and geographical areas were examined. RESULTS: The most common genotypes were 1b (59.5%) and 2 (30.1%) with characteristics of older age (mean ± standard deviation (SD): 66.5 ± 10.7 years and 67.3 ± 10.9 years) and female gender predominant (57.1% and 59.4%), which were associated with iatrogenic infection decades ago. Most of patients with genotype 1a (5.9%) and 6 (3.7%) infection were relatively younger (59.2 ± 12.0 years and 60.0 ± 13.8 years) and male gender predominant (59.1% and 61.1%), except Liujia and Liuying districts in southern Taiwan. The youngest group (53.2 ± 11.8 years) and most male gender predominant (74.3%) was genotype 3 (0.37%). These genotypes with characteristics of being younger and male gender predominant were highly related to injection drug use in recent years. The number of genotype 4 patients were extremely rare (n = 25) and efficacy of genotype-4-specific-DAA was significantly poorer than non-genotype-4-specific DAA (P value = 0.0411). CONCLUSION: The significant differences in demographic characteristics among CHC patients with different HCV genotypes found in this study suggest HCV genotype was highly associated with transmission pattern and may be used as a reference for HCV control.
BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE: This study aims at investigating the epidemiological profile of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) regarding hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype in Taiwan. METHODS: A total of 29,087 CHCpatients with advanced fibrosis who received direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) therapy under Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) during 2017-2018 were recruited. The HCV genotype distribution and its association with patients' demographic factors including age, gender, and geographical areas were examined. RESULTS: The most common genotypes were 1b (59.5%) and 2 (30.1%) with characteristics of older age (mean ± standard deviation (SD): 66.5 ± 10.7 years and 67.3 ± 10.9 years) and female gender predominant (57.1% and 59.4%), which were associated with iatrogenic infection decades ago. Most of patients with genotype 1a (5.9%) and 6 (3.7%) infection were relatively younger (59.2 ± 12.0 years and 60.0 ± 13.8 years) and male gender predominant (59.1% and 61.1%), except Liujia and Liuying districts in southern Taiwan. The youngest group (53.2 ± 11.8 years) and most male gender predominant (74.3%) was genotype 3 (0.37%). These genotypes with characteristics of being younger and male gender predominant were highly related to injection drug use in recent years. The number of genotype 4 patients were extremely rare (n = 25) and efficacy of genotype-4-specific-DAA was significantly poorer than non-genotype-4-specific DAA (P value = 0.0411). CONCLUSION: The significant differences in demographic characteristics among CHCpatients with different HCV genotypes found in this study suggest HCV genotype was highly associated with transmission pattern and may be used as a reference for HCV control.