Next-Generation Sequencing: a Diagnostic One-Stop Shop for Hepatitis C?

Abstract

Before starting chronic hepatitis C treatment, the viral genotype/subtype has to be accurately determined and potentially coupled with drug resistance testing. Due to the high genetic variability of the hepatitis C virus, this can be a demanding task that can potentially be streamlined by viral whole-genome sequencing using next-generation sequencing as demonstrated by an article in this issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology by E. Thomson, C. L. C. Ip, A. Badhan, M. T. Christiansen, W. Adamson, et al. (J Clin Microbiol. 54:2455-2469, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00330-16).