@article {17439,
	title = {Molecular epidemiology of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus in Athens, Greece},
	journal = {J Med VirolJ Med VirolJ Med Virol},
	volume = {61},
	number = {3},
	year = {2000},
	note = {Anastassopoulou, C GParaskevis, DTassopoulos, N CBoletis, JSypsa, V AHess, GHatzakis, Aeng2000/06/22 10:00J Med Virol. 2000 Jul;61(3):319-26. doi: 10.1002/1096-9071(200007)61:3<319::aid-jmv6>3.0.co;2-r.},
	month = {Jul},
	pages = {319-26},
	abstract = {The relevance of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) infections in liver pathology remains unclear. To investigate the epidemiology of GBV-C/HGV in Athens, Greece, sera from 512 subjects were screened for present and past markers of GBV-C/HGV infection using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and a serological assay, respectively. GBV-C/HGV RNA was detected in 18/56 (32.1\%), 12/42 (28.6\%), and 16/55 (29.1\%) patients with acute hepatitis B, C, or non-A-E, and in 5/58 (8.6\%) and 18/68 (26.5\%) patients with chronic hepatitis B or C, respectively, as well as in 50/133 (37.6\%) hemodialysis patients and 10/100 (10\%) healthy individuals. The data indicated that GBV-C/HGV seroprevalence is age-dependent; thus, GBV-C/HGV RNA and anti-E2 positivity were shown to be associated with younger age [odds ratio 0.98, 95\% confidence interval (CI) 0. 97-1.00, P = 0.017] and older age (odds ratio 1.03, 95\% CI 1.01-1.05, P = 0.002), respectively. No significant associations were identified between GBV-C/HGV RNA status and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in either hepatitis or hemodialysis patients. Nevertheless, GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive acute non-A-E hepatitis patients were more likely to manifest a more severe clinical form of acute hepatitis (P = 0.024). Phylogenetic analysis of partial 5{\textquoteright}-untranslated region sequences isolated from 18 viremic individuals showed that most GBV-C/HGV strains circulating in the greater metropolitan area of Athens belong to the 2a subgroup. A genetically diverse type 2 sequence that may represent a novel subtype within group 2 was also characterized.},
	keywords = {*Molecular Epidemiology, 5{\textquoteright} Untranslated Regions/genetics, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Biomarkers/blood, Child, Female, Flaviviridae/*genetics/immunology/isolation \& purification, Greece/epidemiology, Hepatitis Antibodies/blood, Hepatitis, Viral, Human/*epidemiology/virology, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, RNA, Viral/blood, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Viral Envelope Proteins/immunology},
	isbn = {0146-6615 (Print)0146-6615 (Linking)},
	author = {Anastassopoulou, C. G. and Paraskevis, D and Tassopoulos, N. C. and Boletis, J. and Sypsa, V. A. and Hess, G. and Hatzakis, A}
}
