GENETIC DIVERSITY OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS

丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）是大多数病例的病原体 输血相关性肝炎（TAH）在美国。HCV 通过静脉或经皮血液也可感染疾病 暴露，如静脉注射药物滥用，以及职业暴露， 血液传播的病原体。 减少该病发病率的举措 包括献血者血液检测和疫苗研究。 前者 已经导致了HCV传播风险的降低。 的 基因多样性阻碍了有效疫苗的开发 病毒。 随着这种多样性证据的积累， 该病毒株（其中至少4种已在 美国，日本和欧亚大陆），而第二个是进化的变化 随着时间的推移在菌株中发生。 后者是本文的主题 study. 研究人员建议获得30至50份储存的血清， 已被转介到一个以上的HCV检测的人 场合阳性筛查测试通常在六个月内重复。 基因组预选结构区的比较分析 对于第一个和后续样品之间的变化， 样本进行了阳性确认试验。 据推测， 观察到的变化将不是随机的。

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the etiologic agent in the majority of cases of transfusion associated hepatitis (TAH) in the United States. HCV disease can also be contracted by intravenous or percutaneous blood exposure such as intravenous drug abuse, and occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens. Initiative to reduce the incidence of the disease include donor blood testing, and research on vaccines. The former has already resulted in a reduction of the risk of transmission of HCV. The development of an effective vaccine is hampered by the genetic diversity of the virus. As evidence for this diversity accumulates, it appears that strains of the virus ( at least 4 of which have been described in the U.S., Japan and Eurasia), while the second is the evolutionary change which occur in a strain over time. The later is the subject of this study. The investigators propose to obtain stored sera of 30 to 50 persons who have been referred for testing for HCV on more than one occasion. Positive screening tests are often repeated within six months. A comparative analysis of preselected structural regions in the genome for variation between the first and subsequent samples will be done on sample with positive confirmatory tests. It is hypothesized that the observed changes will not be random.