Viral Emergence and Co-evolution Department, UMR 6578, CNRS, University of the Mediterranean, EFS Alpes-Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
J Med Virol. 2010 Apr;82(4):562-7. doi: 10.1002/jmv.21724.
The aim of this study was to assess the seroprevalence, viremia, genotype distribution, and demographic history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the Republic of the Congo. Testing was carried out on sera samples collected in 2005 from 807 Bantus belonging to the Kongo, Teke, and Ngala subgroups and 80 Pygmies. Positive HCV serology was found in 50 (5.6%) individuals including 31 (60%) who were viremic. Seroprevalence increased with age with a cutoff at 50 years: 2.8% <50 versus 12% >50. Twenty-one strains belonged to four described subtypes, that is, 4c in eight cases, 4h in two, 4k in three, and 4r in eight. Ten strains could not be assigned to any known subtype and may represent six new variants, that is, subtype 4 in five cases and subtype 2 in one. Evolutionary analysis of subtype 4c and 4r sequences indicated a period of enhanced transmission in the mid-twentieth century probably due to iatrogenic causes. This study underlines the high genetic diversity of strains in the Republic of the Congo with nine subtypes 4 and one subtype 2.
本研究旨在评估刚果共和国丙型肝炎病毒 (HCV) 的血清流行率、病毒血症、基因型分布和人口历史。2005 年对来自刚果、泰凯和恩加拉三个族群的 807 名班图人和 80 名俾格米人采集的血清样本进行了检测。在 50 名（5.6%）个体中发现了 HCV 血清阳性，其中 31 名（60%）为病毒血症。血清阳性率随年龄增加而升高，50 岁为临界点：<50 岁为 2.8%，>50 岁为 12%。21 株属于四种已描述的亚型，即 8 例 4c、2 例 4h、3 例 4k 和 8 例 4r。10 株无法归入任何已知亚型，可能代表六种新的变体，即 5 例 4 型和 1 例 2 型。4c 和 4r 亚型序列的进化分析表明，二十世纪中叶可能由于医源性原因导致传播增强。本研究强调了刚果共和国 HCV 株具有高度遗传多样性，包括 9 种 4 型和 1 种 2 型。
