Frequency of consensus residues in hepatitis C virus genotypes 1 to 6: significance for DAA treatment and drug resistance

Background In order to clear HCV in chronically infected patients, treatment with combinations of pan-genotypic direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are the best choice, with currently approved DAAs targeting non-structural proteins NS3/4A, NS5A and NS5B. However, a major barrier for the development of antiviral drugs and preventive vaccines, is the extensive genomic diversity of HCV, both within and between patients. A large-scale analysis on the genome-wide diversity of HCV was performed. Material and methods A dataset of 1415 full-genome sequences including genotypes 1 to 6 from the Los Alamos HCV sequence database was analyzed. Positions sharing a consensus residue with frequency values (x) of 95%≤x