Comparison of seroepidemiology of hepatitis C in blood donors between Bangladesh and Japan.

To compare the seroepidemiology of hepatitis C and hepatitis B between Bangladesh and Japan, we tested the second generation antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV-2) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in serum samples from 163 professional blood donors (161 males and 2 females, mean age 28.6 yr.) and 83 voluntary blood donors from Bangladesh, and 7479 Japanese voluntary blood donors (5036 males and 2443 females; mean age 37.1 yr.). In Bangladesh, anti-HCV-2 is detected in 2.4% of professional blood donors and 0% of voluntary blood donors, furthermore, HBsAg is detected in 29% and in 2.4% of professional and voluntary blood donors, respectively. In Japan, anti-HCV-2 is detected in 0.6% in voluntary blood donors, and HBsAg also in 0.6%. These results indicate that professional blood donors in Bangladesh are highly contaminated by hepatitis B virus and moderately by hepatitis C virus, while voluntary blood donors in both countries are not so highly contaminated by either hepatitis viruses.