Why are the Hatians targeted?
Low incidence of Hep C and Hep B?
16 times lower than Asia?
Asian hot spots at 8%?
Data on the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis are limited in Haiti; consequently, the epidemiology is poorly described. This study aims to provide a descriptive analysis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence of blood donations in Haiti.
Materials and Methods
Using Haiti's National Blood Safety Program and Haitian Red Cross reports from 2005 to 2014, we analysed the results of screening tests of donor serum samples to assess HBV and HCV seroprevalence among adults aged 17 to 65 years.
Results
A total of 198 758 donor samples were screened from 2005 to 2014, of which 0·56% were positive for antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti‐HCV) and 3·80% were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen. Over the 10‐year study period, anti‐HCV seroprevalence among blood donors increased by 31% from 0·66% to 0·86% (95% CI: 1·01–1·70); however, this trend was not uniform over time, with a significant decrease from 0·66% in 2005 to 0·39% in 2009 (95% CI: 0·43–0·82) and 0·43% in 2012 (95% CI: 0·50–0·90). Conversely, HBV decreased significantly by 13% from 3·95% in 2005 to 3·42% in 2014 (95% CI: 0·77–0·97), a trend that was also observed in 2012 and 2013.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/voxs.12427
An estimated 143 million people (2%) worldwide are infected with hepatitis C as of 2015. In 2013 about 11 million new cases occurred. It occurs most commonly in Africa and Central and East Asia. About 167,000 deaths due to liver cancer and 326,000 deaths due to cirrhosis occurred in 2015 due to hepatitis C. The existence of hepatitis C – originally identifiable only as a type of non-A non-B hepatitis – was suggested in the 1970s and proven in 1989. Hepatitis C infects only humans and chimpanzees.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_C