Patent ID: 6416946
Filing Date: 2002-07-09
Classification: C07K,C12N,G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for detecting one or more types of a hepatitis C virus comprising the steps of:(a) providing a biological sample from an individual suspected of being infected by a hepatitis C virus; (b) contacting the sample with a composition comprising a first reagent consisting essentially of a combination of hepatitis C type specific epitopes, wherein said type specific epitopes are specific for a first type of hepatitis C virus, and wherein said epitopes are at least 5 amino acids in length and are from the regions corresponding to amino acids 67-84 of the core region, amino acids 1689-1718 of the NS4 region or amino acids 2281-2313 of the NS5 region of hepatitis C virus-1 or a homologous region thereof from other hepatitis C virus types and contacting is carried out under conditions which allow the formation of first epitope-antibody complexes; and (c) assaying for the presence of said first epitope-antibody complexes in the sample.