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Transmission of HCV in the Vietnamese community

and if positive for HCV RNA, the HCV genotype was determined. Genotyping was performed using the Inno-LiPA HCV II genotyping kit (Inno-LiPA, Innogenetics, Ghent, Belgium). We successfully recruited 11 male and 3 female Vietnameseborn patients whose median age was 48 years and who were HCV antibody positive. Half of the patients had no understanding of the routes of HCV transmission, while others confused transmission modes for HCV with those of other agents of viral hepatitis. Exposure to some medical and dental procedures during childhood in Vietnam may have increased the risk of HCV infection among these patients. For instance, mass dental procedures were reported to take place in some villages. A visiting dentist would extract teeth from successive patients with the same instrument, without cleaning or sterilising equipment between patients. Traditional treatment practices for pruritis would involve the village doctor incising the back of patients’ legs with a piece of glass. Again, the glass was used on successive patients. The HCV genotypes of 11 patients who provided a blood sample were genotype 1b (n=8), genotype 6a (n=2) and genotype 2a/c (n=1). This was consistent with the distribution of genotypes previously described for people living in Vietnam,8 but different to the distribution of genotypes of Australian-born people with HCV infection,9 supporting our assumption that Vietnamese immigrants acquired their HCV infection in Vietnam. In summary, this study has shown that previously unrecorded cultural/medical practices may be common throughout parts of Vietnam and further research is needed to understand the role that such practices play in the transmission of HCV. The evidence showing the same distribution of HCV genotypes among participants in this study with that identified in Vietnam suggests that infection occurred in Vietnam. Even though small, our study has identified an urgent need for the provision of culturally relevant information and education programs about HCV in this target population.