Most of us learn
about Hepatitis C as one disease, however in actuality it's really several
different strains of a virus. They are all similar enough to be called
hepatitis C virus, yet different enough to be classified into subgroups.
HCV GENOTYPES are broken down into sub-types, some of which include:
1a, 1b, 1c 2a, 2b, 2c 3a, 3b 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e 5a 6a 7a, 7b 8a, 8b 9a 10a
11a
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Genotype Geography Patterns:
It is believed that the hepatitis C virus has evolved over a period of
several thousand years. This would explain the current general global
patterns of genotypes and subtypes:
1a - mostly found in North & South America; also common in
Australia
1b - mostly found in Europe and Asia.
2a - is the most common genotype 2 in Japan and China.
2b - is the most common genotype 2 in the US and Northern Europe.
2c - the most common genotype 2 in Western and Southern Europe.
3a - highly prevalent here in Australia (40% of cases) and South Asia.
4a - highly prevalent in Egypt
4c - highly prevalent in Central Africa
5a - highly prevalent only in South Africa
6a - restricted to Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam
7a and 7b - common in Thailand
8a, 8b & 9a - prevalent in Vietnam
10a & 11a - found in Indonesia
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One way to understand the terminology of HCV like ‘genotypes’ and
‘subtypes’ is to compare them to things that we can more readily
relate to.
Example:
Imagine that Viruses are like canines. Dogs have evolved into different
types, just like the thousands of different viruses. Imagine that all
terriers are the hepatitis C viruses, Now each type of terrier is
representing different genotypes of Hepatitis C.
All terriers are still dogs, but the Australian Terrier is different
from the Fox Terrier, just as the Bull Terrier is different from the
Border Terrier.
You could take one major terrier type and imagine these as being one of
HCV’s main types (genotypes). Like the Schnauzer. There are different
types of Schnauzers like the Miniature and the Standard. That represents
the different subgroups within each genotype.
Now scientists predict that people who have hepatitis C, have billions
of actual viruses circulating within their body. Although there may be one
or two predominant sub-types, the infection as a whole is not a single
entity and is composed of many different quasispecies.
It’s believed that of the estimated 160,000 Australians with HCV,
approx. 35% have subtype ‘1a’, 15% have ‘1b’, 7% have ‘2’, 35%
have ‘3’ (mostly being 3a). The remaining people would have other
genotypes.
Genotype and Treatment
Current scientific belief is that factors such as which genotype
patients carry, their duration of a HCV infection, their HCV viral load,
their age, and grade of liver inflammation or stage of fibrosis may play
an important role in determining response to interferon treatment. Recent
studies have suggested that a person’s HCV subtype is the key-factor
that influences their possible response to interferon, or
interferon-ribavirin combination treatment.
It is very important to find out which genotype you carry.
Always Updated
Information on HCV
Treatment According to Genotype & More
2005 Index of all Genotype Research
2004 Thru 2001 Index of all Genotype Research