[The circulation of the hepatitis A and B viruses in the Somali population]. / Ricerche sulla circolazione del virus A e del virus B dell'epatite nella popolazione somala.

We report the results of a study carried out to evaluate the extent of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) circulation in Somalia. Serum samples were collected from 593 subjects (age range 0-83 years) and tested for anti-hepatitis A (HAV) and anti-HAV IgM. Serum samples taken from 1272 individuals (age range 0-83 years) were tested for HBsAg, anti-HBsAg, anti-HBcAg, HBeAg and anti-HBeAg. We confirmed a very high rate of HAV exposure (about 90% of the subjects tested had circulating anti-HAV) as is typical of fecal-orally transmitted infectious agents. The age-specific anti-HAV IgM prevalence suggests that HAV infection is acquired very early in life. Our data also indicate a high rate of HBsAg carriers (range: 10.5%-27.4%) in the Somalian population. When all markers are considered, 60% of the adult population showed evidence of HBV exposure. HBV spreads very subtly: in fact, it is generally transmitted via non-overtly percutaneous routes. In Somalia, hepatitis A virus infection is highly endemic and occurs very early in life. Hepatitis B virus infection is also widespread in this country.

High prevalence of anti-hepatitis delta virus antibody in chronic liver disease in Somalia.

We have assessed the prevalence of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection in people with histologically proven chronic liver disease living in Somalia. Among 104 patients studied (14 with chronic persistent hepatitis, 74 with chronic active hepatitis, and 16 with active cirrhosis), 52 were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen; of these, 26 (50%) carried anti-delta antibodies. HDV infection was detected more frequently in sera from hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative patients (60.9%) than in HBeAg positive patients (9.1%). Using the dot-blot hybridization technique, serum hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid was revealed in 73.1% of patients without HDV infection, while it was detected in only 7.7% of anti-delta positive patients. It is concluded that HDV is strongly associated with chronic liver disease in Somalia.