Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic liver disease

The prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis [C] virus [anti-H C V] has been measured by ELISA test in 87 bilharzial patients with chronic active hepatitis, [C A H], 42 bilharzial patients without C A H and 30 non-bilharzial patients. Antibodies to H C V were detected in 52.87% of bilharzial patients with CAH, 19.05% of bilharzial patients without C A H and 13.33% of non-bilharzial patients, respectively. The differences between these prevalence rates were statistically significant. All the 58 anti-H C V positive samples were retested by RIBA test, and 51 samples [87.93%] were still positive. By comparison, 21 bilharzial patients with C A H, [24.14%], 6 bilharzial patients without CA H, [14, 29%] and 3 non-bilharzial patients [10%] were HBsAg positive