First domestic case of acute hepatitis caused by an HBV genotype H strain

Abstract

A 65-year-old man was admitted to one of our hospitals for acute hepatitis B. He had not been abroad in the past 12 months. The viral genome was subjected to full-genome nucleotide sequencing. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strain belongs to genotype H, which is extremely rare in Japan. Being one and only case of domestic infection with HBV genotype H so far reported from Japan, however, this case may represent a tiny tip of the iceberg, since the recent booming of globalization and commercial sex industry in Japan has accelerated importation of a wide variety of foreign strains of HBV.