HCV 6a was expanding and became the predominant subtype among blood donors between 2004 and 2019 in Guangdong, China.

• Currently, HCV 6a has replaced 1b as the most prevalent subtype in blood donors in Guangdong. • HCV 6a was the predominant subtype in males and older donors, while 1b predominated in females and younger donors. • HCV 6a may expand from Guangdong to other districts of China, and is worthy of attention.

Molecular characteristics of the full-length genome of occult hepatitis B virus from blood donors in China.

The characteristics of a large sample size of the full-length genome of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) have not been extensively explored in China. Voluntary blood donors who were HBsAg-negative/HBV NAT-positive (HBsAg-/HBV NAT+) were identified by blood screening and recruited. Blood samples were tested for HBV serologic markers, viral loads, and PCR to identify OBI.

Complete genome sequencing and evolutionary analysis of hepatitis C virus subtype 6a, including strains from Guangdong Province, China.

We performed an evolutionary analysis using whole genome sequence isolates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) 6a from Guangdong Province and reference sequences from various countries. Less than 5% of the HCV genome was found to be under positive selection. The E1 and E2 proteins had the highest proportion of positively selected sites both within and outside of CD8 T cell epitopes in all of the strains.