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. 2007 Oct 8:7:115.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-7-115.

Molecular epidemiology of Hepatitis B virus genotypes in Pakistan

Muhammad Masroor Alam  1 , Sohail Zahoor Zaidi, Salman Akbar Malik, Shahzad Shaukat, Asif Naeem, Salmaan Sharif, Mehar Angez, Javed Aslam Butt
Affiliations

Molecular epidemiology of Hepatitis B virus genotypes in Pakistan

Muhammad Masroor Alam et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Eight genotypes of Hepatitis B virus designated A-H, have been known but in Pakistan, no such data is available on the prevalent HBV genotypes. Therefore, the subject study was conducted to determine HBV genotypes in the indigenous Pakistani population.

Methods: A total of 690 individuals were enrolled for HBV screening with EIA and nested PCR. Positive samples were further analyzed to determine HBV genotypes (A-F) by multiplex-PCR using type specific primers.

Results: 110 (15.94%) individuals were positive for HBV, including 64% males and 36% females. Out of these, 66 samples (65.34%) were classified into genotype D, 27 (26.73%) were of genotype B while 5(4.95%) had genotype A. In 3 (2.98%) samples, multiple genotypes were detected (genotype A+B; 2(1.99%) and genotypes B+D; 1(0.99%). Nine (8.18%) samples remained untyable.

Conclusion: In Asia, genotypes B and C are the most prevalent but our study reveals that genotype D is predominant and HBV infection constitutes a significant health problem in Pakistan.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean ALT (U/L) of patients infected with different genotypes of hepatitis B virus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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