Molecular Epidemiology of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Genotypes and Serotypes in Patients with Chronic HBV Infection in Korea

Abstract

The extraordinary predominance of genotype C2 in chronic Korean patients, which is known to be associated with more severe liver disease than genotype B, suggests that the clinical manifestations of Korean HBV chronic patients are likely to differ from those found in other Asian countries, especially in Japan and Taiwan, where genotypes B and C coexist.