“Two simultaneous hepatitis B virus (HBV) epidemics among injecting drugs users (IDUs) and men who heve sex with men (MSM) in Buenos Aires, Argentina: characterization of the first D/A recombinant from the American continent”

TRINKS, J;; CUESTAS, M; TANAKA, Y;; MATHET, V;; MINASSIAN, M;; RIVERO, C;; BENETUCCI, J; GÍMENEZ, E;; SEGURA, M;; BOBILLO, M;; CORACH, D;; GHIRINGHELLI, P;; SÁNCHEZ, D;; AVILA M;; MARTÍNEZ PERALTA, L;; KURBANOV, F;; WEISSENBACHER,; M; SIMMONDS, P;; MIZOKAMI, M; OUBIÑA, J.

JOURNAL OF VIRAL HEPATITIS.

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2008 vol. 15 p. 827 - 838

1352-0504

Previous studies have revealed that HBV/D and HBV/F predominate among blood donors from Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the present study, blood samples from two high-risk groups were analyzed: 160 corresponding to street- and hospital-recruited injecting drug users (81.2% showing the “anti-HBc only” serological pattern) and 20 to HBsAg+/anti-HBc+ men who have sex with men. HBV genotypes were assigned by PCR amplification followed by RFLP and confirmed by nucleotide sequencing of two different coding regions. HBV DNA was detected in 27 injecting drug users (16.9%, occult infection prevalence: 7.7%), and 14 men who have sex with men (70%). HBV/A prevailed among injecting drug users (81.8%) while HBV/F was predominant among men who have sex with men (57.1%) The high predominance of HBV/A among injecting drug users is in sharp contrast to its low prevalence among blood donors (P=0.0006) and men who have sex with men (P=0.0137). Interestingly, all HBV/A S gene sequences obtained from street-recruited injecting drug users encoded the rare serotype ayw1 and failed to cluster within any of the known A subgenotypes. Moreover, one of the HBV strains from a hospital-recruited injecting drug user was fully sequenced and found to be the first completely characterized D/A recombinant genome from the American continent. Data suggest that two simultaneous and independent HBV epidemics took place in Buenos Aires: one spreading among injecting drug users and another one sexually transmitted among the homosexual and heterosexual population.