Abstract
A study carried out between 1982 and 1984 established by exclusion diagnosis that 35 % of viral hepatitis cases registered in Belgium were due to non A, non B (NANB) viruses. Recently, a new anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) detection test was used to analyse the sera of patients in whom NANB hepatitis was diagnosed in that study. Using this new serological test for HCV, 29 % of the NANB group was found to be positive for anti-HCV. In the 1982–84 study on viral hepatitis diagnosed by general practitioners, the number of clinically recognized infections was estimated at 14,700 (± 2,170; confidence interval at 95 %) per year. By combining these data and the results of the present study, the following estimates could be calculated: HAV (7,129±1,054/year), HBV (2,426±358/year), HCV (1,470±216/year) and non-identified hepatitis viruses (3,675±543/year).
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Vranckx, R., Walckiers, D., Stroobant, A. et al. Sero epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis C encountered in general practice in Belgium. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 11, 62–64 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01971275
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01971275