Abstract
BackgroundThe risk factors for the transmission of HCV vary substantially between countries and geographic regions. The overall prevalence in south and east Africa region has been estimated to be 1.6% but limited information about the epidemiology of HCV infection in Madagascar is availableMethodsA cross-sectional survey for hepatitis C antibodies was conducted in 2,169 subjects of the general population of Antananarivo to determine seroprevalence of hepatitis C and associated risk factors.ResultsThe overall seroprevalence was 1.2% (25/2,169). The prevalence did not differ significantly according to gender but it increased with age (Chi2 tendency test, p < 10-5). The variable history of hospitalization, previous therapeutic injections, dental treatment, intravenous drug use, and abnormal ALT and AST were statistically significantly related with the presence of HCV antibodies. No relationship with past history of blood transfusion was observed.ConclusionHCV prevalence in Madagascar seems to be similar to that in most other east African countries. Age appears to be an important risk factor. Iatrogenic causes of HCV transmission need to be further evaluated because all HCV cases had a history of receiving therapeutic injections and data suggested a cumulative effect in relation with therapeutic injections.
Highlights
The risk factors for the transmission of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) vary substantially between countries and geographic regions
Among the 2,310 subjects contacted for the study, 2,169 older than two years (94%) agreed to participate and had serum tested for HCV antibody
We found a prevalence of active HCV infection of 0.8% in the study population, lower than the 5.7% reported for Morocco population [32] and the 2.3% reported in Sudan [33]
Summary
The risk factors for the transmission of HCV vary substantially between countries and geographic regions. The overall prevalence in south and east Africa region has been estimated to be 1.6% but limited information about the epidemiology of HCV infection in Madagascar is available. There have been fewer studies in Africa; the region is reported to have the highest HCV prevalence rate (5.3%) [1] with differences between regions [14]. Prevalence is generally high in central Africa (6.0%) [14] with the maximum in Cameroon (13.8%) lower rates have been reported (1.9% in pregnant women) [15]. The overall prevalence in south and east Africa region has been estimated to be 1.6% [14]: among blood donors 1.6% in Ethiopia and 0.9% in Kenya [19,20]. The lowest HCV prevalence for this region is in South Africa (0.1%) [14]
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