High prevalence of genotype 2c hepatitis c virus in Córdoba, Argentina.

RÉ V; CONTIGIANA M; YOSHIDA C. F. T; LAMPE E

Paris, Francia

Simposio; 12th International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Disease; 2006

Sociedad Internacional de Hepatitis

Sequence analysis was employed for determination of hepatitis C virus genotypes in 36 patients from Cordoba, a central region of Argentina. Genotype 1 was identified in 23 (38.3%), genotype 2 in 33 (55.0%), genotype 3 in 3 (5.0%) and genotype 4 in one (1.7%) of the 60 samples tested by RFLP. From the 36 HCV samples sequenced, 12 were classified as subtype 1b and 4 as subtype 1a. All type 2 sequences (n=18) were grouped inside the clade of subtype 2c of the phylogenetic tree. One sample was identified as 3a and one as 4a. This pattern differs substantially from others cohorts from the east Argentina where genotype 1b was predominant, but it is similar with genotypes distribution reported in Italy and it can be related to the high Italian immigration in central Argentina.