Abstract
The performance of a new version (HC03) of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) serotyping 1-6 assay (Abbott Murex Laboratories), a specific test for serological determination of HCV types, was evaluated using a selected panel of 180 HCV RNA-positive sera. HC03 was more sensitive than the current HC02 version, typing 53 (37.6%) of 141 samples which were not typable with HC02. Furthermore, the HC03 specificity was 94.1% as evaluated with a panel of 22 genotyped samples. This new version of the test improves the quality of the serological approach to HCV type determination.