MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION AT GA-RANKUWA HOSPITAL

Different hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes may be associated with vir al toad, severity of liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, geograph ical location and sensitivity to interferon. In this study the prevale nce of HCV-RNA and distribution of HCV genotypes was investigated in a nti-HCV-positive patients admitted to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital during 1994 and 1995. One hundred and forty-nine sera from three groups of anti-HC V-positive patients (N = 78) were analysed. These included: (i) patien ts with Various liver diseases; (ii) patients admitted to the renal un it; and (iii) a miscellaneous group of patients for whom HCV antibody screening was requested. Twenty-six patients (33%) tested positive for viral RNA. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis o f these patients showed that HCV genotypes 1, 2 and 5 were present. Ty pe 2 (35%) was the dominant genotype in the region served by Ga-Rankuw a Hospital. In a large proportion of viral RNA-positive patients (21%) , the polymerase chain reaction product could not be digested with one of the sets of enzymes, and therefore could not be classified into ge notypes 1 to 6. Further studies are now in progress to enhance our cur rent knowledge of the epidemiology of HCV infection.