Molecular epidemiology and genotype distribution of hepatitis C in Pakistan; a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Molecular epidemiology and genotype distribution of hepatitis C in Pakistan; a multicenter cross-sectional study. Infect Genet Evol. 2020 May 23;:104372 Authors: Khan A, Nadir A, Mushtaq MH, Junaid K, Khan AM, Ali H, Waqar F, Khan TA, Khan AA Abstract Pakistan has second highest burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients in the World. Little is known about the molecular epidemiology and risk factors for prevailing HCV genotypes in Pakistan. Considering this a multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted at 23different viral hepatitis control and prevention centers. A total of 175,897 patients were registered and screened for HCV, out of which 73,180 (41.6%) were found positive on Architect screening test. The screened positive patients were sequentially tested on RT-PCR; where 41,241 (56.35%) were detected positive. Molecular characterization results showed genotype 3 (73.9%) as the most prevalent type, followed by genotype 1 (9.7%), and genotype 4 (0.3%) was isolated for the first time in Pakistan. On regression analysis; risk factors associated with genotype 3 and 1 included; age group of 30-50 years, rural residence, exposure to >10 injections, barber shaving, circumcision by barbers, and low literacy rate. Phylogenetic analysis based on genotypes identified in this study and sequences isolated from Pakistan in last 10 years demonstrated that genotype 3 and 1 are endemic locally in Punjab province. The high prev...
Source: Infection, Genetics and Evolution - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Infect Genet Evol Source Type: research