PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION IN NANJING, SOUTHERN CHINA

There is little information on the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HC V) infection in China. The prevalence of HCV infection was determined in 998 subjects (398 with liver disease and 600 without) in the city o f Nanjing in southern China. Subjects were tested for anti-HCV antibod ies by a second generation assay, We also determined serological HCV g enotypes and HCV RNA sequences. Among the 600 subjects without liver d isease, 3 (0.5%) were seroreactive for anti-HCV, All were less than 12 years of age and had a history of transfusion. Of the 398 liver disea se patients, 20 (5.0%) were seroreactive for anti-HCV. Of 16 patients in whom serological HCV genotype was determined, 10 (62.5%) were infec ted with HCV type 1, 5 (31.3%) with type 2 and 1 (6.3%) undetermined. HCV genomes sequenced from 2 patients belonged to genotype 2 and were closely related to strains in Beijing and Japan by molecular evolution ary analysis. These results suggest that HCV infection is rare and not a major cause of liver disease in southern China.