Serum samples from 33,363 healthy people in Tunisia have been tested for serological markers of hepatitis B, C and delta viruses (HBV, HCV and HDV). Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was detected in 6.5% of sera. The overall seroprevalence of HBV was 37.5%. Vertical and perinatal transmission of HBV in the first 3 months of life occurred in only 0.4% of 177 mother and child pairs. HBV seroprevalence was 10.7% in infants under 5 years old and increased with age rapidly till 25 years of age and then more slowly in adulthood, reaching 54% for people aged over 40 years. HBsAg seropositivity varied throughout the country, ranging from 3% to 13% with higher prevalences in the south and central-west regions. Overall seroprevalences for HDV and HCV were 17.7% and 0.4%, respectively. HDV superinfection occurred later than HBV and increased with age in parallel with HBV. Overall, HCV and HBV infections had different geographical distributions throughout the country. The study confirmed the high prevalence of HBV infection in Tunisia; it occurs mainly in children and teenagers, and vertical and perinatal transmission of HBV does not appear to be significant. HDV superinfection is quite common in Tunisia and occurs in almost 44% of individuals infected with HBV. In contrast, seroprevalence of HCV in the Tunisian general population was low (0.4%). These results indicate differences in the distribution of the viruses and/or different routes of transmission.

Between 1981 and 1985, the authors studied 21 Tunisian patients with alpha chain disease. Twenty of 21 underwent laparotomy. According to Galian ef al. six patients were classified Stage A, two Stage B, and 13 Stage C. The therapeutic regimen included the following: (1) Antibiotics: In the case of intestinal bacterial overgrowth (IBO), antibiotics selected by their antibiograms were delivered; in absence of IBO, metronidazole plus ampicillin were first given. The antibiotic treatment was changed in case of therapeutic failure. (2) Chemotherapy: From 1981 to 1983 a cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin (doxorubicin), teniposide (VM-26), prednisone (CHVP) protocol (Adriamycin 35 mg/m2, teniposide 50 mg/m2 day 2, cyclophos-phamide 300 mg/m2 days 2 through 4, prednisone 40 mg/m2 days 1 through 10) was used. After 1983 bleomycine 15 mg, Adriamycin 30 mg, vinblastim: 10 mg were given on day 15. Serum immunoelectro-phoresis and immunohistochemical study of duodenojejunal specimens were made on a 3-month and 6-month basis, respectively. Survival curve analysis was made according to Kaplan and Meier. Results were as follows: (1) Stage A: Six patients were first treated by antibiotics alone; two complete responses (CR) persisting 42 and 55 months later were observed, respectively. The four antibiotic failures were submitted to further chemotherapy with four subsequent failures and two deaths. (2) Stage B-C. Chemotherapy led to nine CR with one precocious relapse, a salvage chemotherapy allowing to one more CR. (3) All stages mixed, percentage of survival reached 90 f 12% at 2 years and 67 f 25% at 3 years, all patients alive beyond 3.5 years being disease-free.

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract. 16 weak B60 erythrocyte samples belonging to six families were studied using three series of quantitative measurements. The results show that the so‐called B60, group is heterogeneous and does not correspond to a genetic entity.