HEPATITIS-G VIRUS-INFECTION IN AMERINDIANS AND OTHER VENEZUELAN HIGH-RISK GROUPS

Recently, a new virus related to flaviviruses, the hepatitis G virus ( HGV), or GBV-C virus, was discovered as a putative blood-borne human p athogen. HGV RNA (NS5 region) was amplified by reverse transcription-n ested PCR in the sera of 6 of 64 (9%) hemodialysis patients; 2 of 80 ( 2.5%) West Yukpa Amerindians, a population with a high rate of HBV inf ection but negative for HCV infection; and 1 patient with an acute epi sode of non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis (NABCH), The patterns of single- strand conformation polymorphism of the amplified products were unique among different specimens and similar on follow-up for hemodialysis p atients, All patients tested remained HGV RNA positive 1 and 2 years l ater, without major sequence variation, except for the NABCH patient, for whom a double infection and an apparent clearance of the original dominant variant was observed after 2 years, The sequences of the NS5 amplified products demonstrated 85 to 90% identity with other reported HGV sequences.