Genetic characterization of hepatitis A virus isolates from Buenos Aires, Argentina

MBAYED, V.; SOOKOIAN, S.; ALFONSO, V; CAMPOS, R

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY

Wiley

Lugar: Hoboken; Año: 2002 vol. 68 p. 168 - 174

0146-6615

The Hepatitis A virus (HAV) has been classified inseven different genotypes, which include human(I, II, III, and VII) and simian (IV, V, and VI) groups.The sequence analysis of HAVstrains contributesto the molecular epidemiology of the virus.Although the infection with HAV is endemic inArgentina and vaccination is being implementedin this country, using both IA and IB strains, thereare very few data on the genotypes of the circulatingviruses. On the basis of the sequences of20 isolates collected in Buenos Aires during a2-year period (extended to 3 years by two additionalspecimens), we observed the presence of asingle sub-genotype, IA, but with a high geneticdiversity. We analyzed the VP1–2A junction andalso the VP3–VP1 region. Most of the Argentineisolates grouped in at least two clusters. One ofthese was related to South American strains,thus suggesting a co-circulation of related isolatesin neighbor countries. The other cluster wascomposed only of Argentine specimens. Othersequences were more scattered along the phylogenetictree. However, we demonstrated that aconsistent genetic relatedness of sequencescould only be inferred on the basis of a moreextensive sequencing of each isolate.