Background: The RNA genome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) displays extensive sequence variation. In this study, serotyping and genotyping techniques were applied to assess this variability by comparing the performance of the serotyping assay with a panel of well-characterized HCV strains isolated from chronic active hepatitis (CAH) patients.
Patients and methods: 60 serum samples from CAH patients were analyzed. All isolates were genotyped by a line probe assay and the results of genotyping and serotyping were evaluated.
Results: The overall sensitivity of the serotyping and genotyping techniques was 81.16% with a concordance of 73.3%. Type 4 was detected in 73.3% of cases and it was highly heterogeneous.
Conclusion: Type 4 HCV is the most prevalent type in Egyptian CAH patients and there is a high concordance between the results of serotyping and genotyping techniques.