Hepatitis C viral load and genotypes distribution among chronically infected patients in Morocco

In Morocco, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypic distribution is poorly studied and not continuously updated. The aim of this study is to characterize HCV genotypes diversity and dynamics in Morocco. A retrospective study carried out between 2003 and 2020 on 2101 patients HCV-positive at the molecular biology laboratory of Pasteur Institute of Morocco (IPM), involving HCV quantification through real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and HCV genotyping through reverse hybridization. All the 2101 patients had a viral load higher than 15 IU/mL. Alanine transaminase (ALT) levels and Fibrotest were performed in 150 patients. The 2101 analyzed patients had a mean age of 59.52 ± 12.98 years. The average viral load was 5.23 ± 0.82 log IU/mL, and females were more affected than males (sex-ratio = 0.75, p