Molecular Epidemiology of Hepatitis A Virus in the South-East Area of Gyeonggi-do in Korea.
10.3349/ymj.2009.50.4.512
- Author:
Han Ul SONG
1
;
Seong Gyu HWANG
;
Chang Il KWON
;
Ji Eun LEE
;
Kwang Hyun KO
;
Sung Pyo HONG
;
Phil Won PARK
;
Kyu Sung RIM
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Pochon CHA University, Seongnam, Korea. sghwang@cha.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Hepatitis A;
genotype;
phylogeny;
epidemiology;
reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction
- MeSH:
Adult;
Female;
Genotype;
Hepatitis A/*epidemiology/virology;
Hepatitis A Virus, Human/classification/genetics/*physiology;
Humans;
Korea/epidemiology;
Male;
*Molecular Epidemiology;
Phylogeny;
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
- From:Yonsei Medical Journal
2009;50(4):512-516
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) has been a leading cause of acute hepatitis in Korea. The reported genotypes of acute hepatitis A in Korea are the subgenotype IA and IB. The aim of the present study is to investigate HAV genotypes in the south-east area of Gyeonggi-do in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From June 2004 to June 2006, 46 acute hepatitis A patients were enrolled prospectively. All had sporadic acute hepatitis A patients. All suspected cases of acute hepatitis A were tested for IgM anti-HAV antibodies. We sequenced 168 bp of nucleotides of the putative VP1/P2A junction and determined the HAV genotype with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The clinical and laboratory results of all patients were recorded. RESULTS: HAV-ribonucleic acid (RNA) was detected in 41 samples out of 46 samples. Among the 41 samples, 25 (60%) were shown to have subgenotype IIIA and the other 16 (40%) were subgenotype IA. Several amino acid substitutions were found. CONCLUSION: In these HAV sporadic cases, IIIA and IA were identified, and this may reflect co-circulation of various genotypes in Korea. This study provides valuable new data on the genetic distribution of HAV and important information to help design appropriate public health measures.
