INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIVE INFECTIVITY AND PATHOGENICITY OF DIFFERENT HEPATITIS-C VIRUS GENOTYPES IN HEMOPHILIACS

To assess the relative infectivity and pathogenicity of variants of he patitis C virus (HCV) genotypes, the distribution of genotypes in hemo philic patients who had been treated with nonvirally inactivated facto r concentrates or cryoprecipitates prepared from local blood donors wa s compared with those found in the respective blood donor populations. Genotype frequencies differed markedly in the four countries investig ated (Scotland, Hungary, South Africa, and Thailand) but in each, the HCV genotype distributions in hemophiliacs and blood donors were simil ar. In addition, HCV genotypes in recipients of commercially manufactu red concentrates were similiar to those found in the US general popula tion, These findings provide no evidence that HCV genotypes differ sig nificantly from each other in replication rate, transmissibility, or i nfectivity. (C) 1996 by The American Society of Hematology.