DIRECT SEQUENCING OF HEPATITIS-A VIRUS-STRAINS ISOLATED DURING AN EPIDEMIC IN FRANCE

Direct sequencing of PCR products was used to study the VP1 region of the hepatitis A virus (HAV) genome (position 2199 to 2356) of nine str ains isolated from human stools collected during a hepatitis A epidemi c (western France, 1992), three strains from environmental samples (19 90, 1991, and 1992), and two HAV cell culture isolates (the French str ain CF53/Lyon and strain CLP). These viruses differed from CF53/Lyon ( genotype I) by between 1 and 10.3%, and results indicated the existenc e of two groups of strains belonging to two different subgenotypes (IA and IB). With this sequencing technique it was possible to monitor th e epidemiology of HAV and study its relations.