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It is very important to find out which genotype you carry.
Most of us learn about Hepatitis C as one disease, however in actuality it's really several different strains of a virus. They are all similar enough to be called hepatitis C virus, yet different enough to be classified into subgroups.
HCV GENOTYPES are broken down into sub-types, some of which include: 1a, 1b, 1c 2a, 2b, 2c 3a, 3b 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e 5a 6a 7a, 7b 8a, 8b 9a 10a 11a
Genotype Geography Patterns:
It is believed that the hepatitis C virus has evolved over a period of several thousand years. This would explain the current general global patterns of genotypes and subtypes:
1a - mostly found in North & South America; also common in Australia
1b - mostly found in Europe and Asia.
2a - is the most common genotype 2 in Japan and China.
2b - is the most common genotype 2 in the US and Northern Europe.
2c - the most common genotype 2 in Western and Southern Europe.
3a - highly prevalent here in Australia (40% of cases) and South Asia.
4a - highly prevalent in Egypt
4c - highly prevalent in Central Africa
5a - highly prevalent only in South Africa
6a - restricted to Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam
7a and 7b - common in Thailand
8a, 8b & 9a - prevalent in Vietnam
10a & 11a - found in Indonesia
http://janis7hepc.com/Genotypes.htm