HEPATITIS-C VIRUS GENOTYPES AND COINFECTION WITH GB VIRUS-C IN PATIENTS WITH ANTI-HCV-POSITIVE CHRONIC LIVER-DISEASE IN JAKARTA, INDONESIA

Of 153 patients with chronic liver disease in Jakarta, Indonesia, who were positive for antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV), 129 (84%) had H CV RNA in serum. HCV genotypes were II/1b in 55 (43%), III/2a in 33 (2 6%) and 1c in 15 (12%) patients; genotypes were not classifiable into the common five (I/1a, II/1b, III/2a, IV/2b and V/3a) or 1c in the rem aining 25 (19%) patients. RNA of a putative non-A-E hepatitis virus, d esignated GB virus C (GBV-C), was tested for by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction with nested printers deduced from the 5'-non coding region, and detected in 18 (12%) patients of whom 13 (78%) poss essed serum HCV RNA. These results indicate that 1c and thr other indi genous genotypes of HCV, as well as the co-infection with GBV-C, would be common among Indonesian patients with HCV-associated chronic liver disease.