DISTRIBUTION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS GENOTYPES IN SLOVENIA

To determine the prevalence of HCV genotypes in Slovenia, 203 subjects infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) were studied using the Inno-Lip a HCV II assay (Innogenetics, Belgium). Of 21 patients infected by blo od transfusion 19% had HCV subtype 1a, 81% had subtype 1b, and none of them was infected with genotype 3. In chronic hepatitis C patients in fected by unknown cause subtype 1b was the most prevalent (54.4%), fol lowed by subtype 1a (24.6%), genotype 3 (15.8%) and genotype 2 (5.2%). Genotype 3 (45.9%) and subtype 1a (43.2%) predominated among 74 intra venous drug users. In 37 haemodialysis patients genotypes 1 and 2 were almost equally frequent (40.5% and 37.8%, respectively), followed by genotype 3 (21.6%). Significant differences in HCV genotype distributi on among distinct epidemiological groups observed in Slovenia indicate a close relationship between certain HCV genotypes and particular rou tes of viral transmission.