DISTRIBUTION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS GENOTYPES AMONG INTRAVENOUS-DRUG-USERS - A 10-YEAR STUDY IN PALERMO, SICILY

A cross-sectional study was carried out on the sera of 88 active intra venous drug users (IVDU) collected between 1985 and 1986 to evaluate t he circulation of HCV genotypes in Western Sicily. The patients were g rouped by age and classified by their HIV status. Genotype 3a (48.8% o f all cases) was most frequently detected, followed by genotype 1a (20 .4%) and type 1b (17.0%). No significant differences in HCV genotype d istribution were observed between HIV positive and negative individual s. Next, the HCV genotype distribution found in sera samples of IDVUs drawn between 1985 and 1986 was studied and divided into three age gro ups. The genotype distribution in the younger group was then compared with samples collected ten years later, between 1995 and 1996, from yo ung HIV negative IVDU individuals. A different distribution between HC V genotypes 3a and 1a was found with a relative, though not significan t, increase in the detection of genotype 1a (38%). Finally, sera from six IVDUs obtained at three different times over a ten-year period wer e genotyped for HCV. None of the subjects showed any change in the gen otype found at the first sampling throughout the ten years.