Seroprevalence and Genotypic Distribution Patterns of Hepatitis C Virus among Infected Patients from Erbil Province: Kurdistan/Iraq

Abstract

Background:Hepatitis C virus is a common cause of liver disease, hepatitis C virus exhibits high degree of genetic heterogeneity with characterized regional variations in genotype prevalence. Objective: To determine the prevalence of HCV genotypes in patients of Erbil Province, Kurdistan region/Iraq. Patients and Methods:Blood samples were collected from 165 patients diagnosed positive for HCV antibody, which referral by specialists to Public Health Laboratory in Erbil province (Kurdistan/Iraq) between March 2015 and December 2016 for genotyping. Following extraction of viral RNA, HCV genotypes were determined in each case by using a PCR based genotyping kit. Results: With (37%) genotype 1 was the most frequent genotype detected followed by 3 (27.3%), 4 (20%) and 2 (2.4%), while mixed genotypes were detected in 13.3%. Conclusion: This study gives different estimation of HCV genotypes distribution among infected HCV patients in Kurdistan from prevalent distribution in Iraq and Middle East Arab countries, but comparable to global distribution.