PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTION IN GENERAL-POPULATION IN MADAGASCAR

The achievement of a sera collection representative for the general po pulation greater than or equal to 1 year in 1994 allowed the assessmen t of the seroprevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) in Antana narivo and Toamasina provinces which represent 45% of the total popula tion of Madagascar. The overall seroprevalence was 1.2% among the 921 tested sera. The prevalence was not significantly different according to sex, but it increased according to the age. The absence of positive children was an argument in consideration of the low importance of mo ther-to-infant transmission in the epidemiology of HCV. A significant relationship was observed with past history of blood transfusion. This point is a well established idea that reminds the interest of the det ection of positive individuals for anti-HCV antibodies. The seropreval ence observed in our study could be considered as moderate. it is clos e to the values recorded in Europe or in Japan, and much lower than th ose observed in Equatorial Africa.