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Hepatitis C virus population analysis of a single-source nosocomial outbreak reveals an inverse correlation between viral load and quasispecies complexity

Ivana Furi^2,

Damià Garriga^1,

¹ Departamento de Ciencias Experimentales y de la Salud, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr. Aiguader 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
² Hepatología, Instituto de Enfermedades Digestivas, Hospital Clinic, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
³ Hospital Figueres, 17600 Girona, Spain
⁴ Departamento de Biotecnología, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Correspondence
Juana Díez
juana.diez{at}upf.edu

The features of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) quasispecies within an envelope segment including the hypervariable region 1 were analysed at an early time point post-infection in seven patients that acquired HCV from a single common donor during a nosocomial outbreak. The grouping of patients according to viral load was reflected in the structure of the quasispecies. A higher viral load correlated with the presence of a predominant HCV genome and a corresponding lower quasispecies complexity. The quasispecies complexity itself was not correlated with HCV clearance or persistence. Thus, the relationship between an intrapatient HCV quasispecies and the clinical outcome of an HCV infection is more complex than previously anticipated.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers of the nucleotide sequences reported here are AY683898–AY684043.

Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.

Present address: Departament de Biologia Estructural, Institut de Biologia Molecular de Barcelona (CSIC), Josep Samitier 1-5, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.

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