title: High level of hepatitis C endemicity in Gabon, equatorial Africa.
abstract: To assess the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a community-based study was performed in eastern Gabon on 1172 subjects over 5 years of age. The prevalence of antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) detected using second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and confirmed by an immunoblot assay (RIBA 2), was 6.5%. Anti-HCV prevalence increased with age but was related to neither sex nor ethnic group. Among 30 subjects with positive ELISA results, 14 had HCV viraemia as shown by the polymerase chain reaction (11/12 RIBA positive, 2/15 RIBA negative, 1/3 RIBA indeterminate). We conclude that HCV is highly endemic in western equatorial Africa and that a high proportion of the population may be viraemic.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U13/IMEA, Hôpital Claude Bernard, Paris, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delaporte
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Thiers
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Dazza
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romeo
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mlika-Cabanne
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aptel
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schrijvers
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bréchot
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Larouzé
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D002648:Child; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005681:Gabon / Q000453:epidemiology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies