The genotypes of hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection in southern Taiwan.

To investigate the genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in southern Taiwan, the sera from 56 patients with chronic HCV infection were studied. Twenty-nine patients were men and 27 were women. Age ranged from 22 to 65 years (mean, 47.3 +/- 11.4). Eighteen of them had chronic persistent hepatitis, 27 had chronic active hepatitis, and 11 had liver cirrhosis. HCV RNA was detected by reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction using primers derived from the 5'-noncoding region. The genotypes of HCV were determined by amplification of the core region with the type-specific primers as described by Okamoto et al.. All sera were positive for HCV RNA. The prevalence rates of genotypes were as follows: 1b/II, 44.6%(25/56); 2a/III, 41.1%(23/56); 2b/IV, 3.6%(2/56); mixed 1b/I + 2a/III, 5.4%(3/56): mixed 1b/II + 2b/IV, 1.8%(1/56) and type unclassified 3.6%(2/56). The distribution of genotypes was not related to the patients' age, sex, and histological changes. Nevertheless, patients having past history of blood transfusion had a significantly higher rate of HCV type 2a/III infection (72.2% versus 34.2%, p < .05, chi-square test). We concluded that both of the HCV genotypes 1 b/II and 2a/III are predominant types in southern Taiwan and regional HCV genotype distribution may differ even within this island. Selective transmission of specific genotypes may pass along different infectious routes.