Hepatitis C virus (HCV) isolates from 93 patients living in Tunisia, including 16 haemophiliacs, were genotyped by INNO LiPA and partial sequencing of the 5' untranslated region of the viral genome. In non-haemophiliacs, subtype 1b was largely predominant (79%), types 1a, 2a, 2b, 3a and 4a occurred much less frequently at 5, 7, 3, 3 and 1% of cases, respectively. In the group of haemophiliacs, a co-dominance between subtypes 1a and 1b was noticed (38%). Type distribution of HCV in Tunisia differs from that reported in other countries of the Mediterranean and Middle East regions. Genotyping results in respect of clinical status, age, and genotyping methods, are discussed.

No abstract

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) e antigen (HBeAg), HBV DNA and precore mutations affecting HBeAg expression during active replication were studied in 72 Tunisian hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive individuals: 30 asymptomatic carriers of the virus, 37 with chronic hepatitis and 5 with acute hepatitis. HBV DNA was detected in 44 patients, but only 20% of them expressed HBeAg. Precore mutant strains, with mutations at position 1896 or at positions 1896 and 1899, were detected by PCR-hybridization in 86 and 36% of patients, respectively. Wild-type strains were detected in 54% of patients. Precore mutants were found in chronically and in acutely infected individuals, in patients with severe and asymptomatic infections, in HBeAg positive as well as HBeAg negative individuals. These results show the high frequency of HBV precore mutants in Tunisia.

No abstract

No abstract