Distribution of HCV Genotypes in the Populations of Inmates in Polish Prison Potulice and Patients Hospitalised in Bydgoszcz

BACKGROUND According to many studies, one of the social groups with high rate of HCV infections are prisoners. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to determine and compare the genotypes distribution among prisoners and patients of hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS HCV genotypes among prisoners (281 inmates) and patients of hospital (1415 patients) were determined in years 2002-2012. HCV genotypes were determined in 2002-2005 with INNO-LiPA HCV II test (Innogenetics, Gent, Belgium) and since 2006 with LINEAR ARRAY assay (Roche, Mannheim, Germany), after isolation and amplification of the material with COBAS AMPLICOR v 2.0 (Roche, Mannheim, Germany). RESULTS The most frequent HCV genotype among inmates was genotype 3, which was detected in169 of 281 patients (60.1%). Most frequent genotype among hospitalized was genotype 1, which was found in 1127 cases (79.6%). Comparing the results of prisoners with a group of patients with HIV/HCV co-infection gave similar results. In both groups most frequent was genotype 3 (respectively 60.1 and 45.5%). However, most prisoners in this study (96%) were HIV-negative. CONCLUSIONS The current study shows that the predominant HCV genotype among inmates from prison in Potulice is genotype 3.