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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2005, p. 2750-2755, Vol. 43, No. 6
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.6.2750-2755.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology of a Hepatitis C Virus Outbreak in a Hemodialysis Unit

Maria Alma Bracho,1 María José Gosalbes,1 David Blasco,2 Andrés Moya,1 and Fernando González-Candelas1*

Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, València, Spain,1 Direcció General de Salut Pública, Conselleria de Sanitat i Consum, Generalitat Valenciana, València, Spain2

Received 4 November 2004/ Returned for modification 1 February 2005/ Accepted 24 February 2005

We analyzed a hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission case in the hemodialysis unit of a private clinic by sequencing two genome regions of virus isolates from a number of patients attending this unit and some external controls. The analysis of 337 nucleotides (nt) in the NS5B region did not provide enough resolution to ascertain which patients were actually involved in the outbreak and the potential source. Nevertheless, this region allowed the exclusion of several patients as putative sources of the transmission case based on their genotypes and phylogenetic relationships. On the other hand, the analysis of several 472-nt-long clone sequences per sample in a more rapidly evolving region of the HCV genome, coding for the envelope proteins and encompassing hypervariable region 1, allowed us to establish the existence of at least two independent transmission events involving two different source patients and three recipients. The direction of the transmissions was further corroborated by different measures of genetic variability within and among samples.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Apartado Oficial 22085, 46071 Valencia, Spain. Phone: 34 963543653. Fax: 34 96 3543670. E-mail: fernando.gonzalez{at}uv.es.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2005, p. 2750-2755, Vol. 43, No. 6
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.6.2750-2755.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cottam, E. M, Thebaud, G., Wadsworth, J., Gloster, J., Mansley, L., Paton, D. J, King, D. P, Haydon, D. T (2008). Integrating genetic and epidemiological data to determine transmission pathways of foot-and-mouth disease virus. Proc R Soc B 275: 887-895 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wrobel, B., Torres-Puente, M., Jimenez, N., Bracho, M. A., Garcia-Robles, I., Moya, A., Gonzalez-Candelas, F. (2006). Analysis of the Overdispersed Clock in the Short-Term Evolution of Hepatitis C Virus: Using the E1/E2 Gene Sequences to Infer Infection Dates in a Single Source Outbreak. Mol Biol Evol 23: 1242-1253 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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