Seroepidemiology of hepatitis viruses of chronic liver diseases in Bangladesh: high prevalence of HCV among blood donors and healthy person

Forty eight (9.7%) and 27 (5.5%) of 495 apparent healthy persons and 15 (18.8%) and five (6.2%) of 80 blood donors from Dhaka, Bangladesh were found to be infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), respectively. Five apparent healthy persons and two blood donors were infected with both HBV and HCV. Genotyping in 20 anti-HCV positive sera revealed that 13 (65%) had genotype Ib and the rest, seven (35%) had genotype 2a. These data suggest that several million people of Bangladesh being unaware of their infective conditions has been carrying hepatitis viruses that may lead to chronic liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. As HCV genotype Ib was prevalent among HCV-carriers in Bangladesh, interferon should be used cautiously for type C hepatitis until facilities for quantification or genotyping of HCV become possible. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.