[Acute epidemic non-A, non-B hepatitis: clinical study of 38 cases seen in Chad].

An epidemic of acute non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH), observed in 38 young French soldiers in Chad, presumed to be waterborne, allowed to describe the clinical picture of the disease. The main features of this entity were compared with those observed during previously described outbreaks of waterborne NANBH encountered in North Africa and in Asia as well as with 85 cases of viral type A hepatitis of various other geographical origins, observed during the same period of time. Similarities between the clinical features of the disease within every water-transmitted NANBH epidemic center were suggestive of a particular nosologic entity among the non-parenterally transmitted cases of NANBH. In young male subjects, the course of the disease proved to be milder than that of type A viral hepatitis. A 5 ml dose of non-specific French-prepared human immunoglobulins had no prophylactic effects on the disease.