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Introduction: Diabetes and chronic liver diseases such as viral hepatitis C (HVC) are global public health problems. The combination of the 2 increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma., Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate viral hepatitis C in adult diabetics in referral health centers in Cotonou., Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study with prospective data collection from July to October 2023 at the Clinique Universitaire d'Endocrinologie Métabolisme Nutrition of the CNHU-HKM, and at the Banque d'insuline d'Akpakpa. A rapid test was used to diagnose hepatitis C and the C viral load determined by PCR. Hepatic fibrosis was assessed by the APRI (ASAT to platelet ratio Index) score., Results: A total of 281 patients were included, with a mean age of 60.4±11.2 years, ranging from 22 to 88 years, and a sex ratio of 0.6. Anti-HCV antibodies were positive in 5 patients, for a prevalence of 1.7%, including 2 with detectable HCV RNA PCR (0.7% of the study population). Factors associated with HCV were, in bivariate analysis, hepatic cytolysis (p=0.005), prothrombin level (p=0.015), APRI score (p=0.003) and insulin therapy (p=0.030). In multivariate analysis, surgical history (p=0.045) and insulin therapy (p=0.030) were statistically associated with the presence of anti-HCV antibodies in diabetics., Conclusion: Viral hepatitis C is fairly common in adult diabetics, especially those with a history of surgery or on insulin therapy. Screening of diabetics for viral hepatitis C would be useful to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this association., Competing Interests: The Authors declare that no competing interest exists, (Copyright © 2024 by West African Journal of Medicine.)

Introduction: hepatitis C is a public health problem worldwide, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study is to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies and associated factors during a voluntary general population screening program in Benin., Method: we conducted a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study in 4 big cities of 4 different departments in Benin in July 2016. All volunteers of all ages, residing in these targeted cities, who gave their informed consent were included in the study. ImuMed HCV Rapid Diagnostic Test (Healgen Scientific LLC, USA) was used. Logistic regression analysis was also used to identify factors associated with hepatitis C virus infection., Results: a total of 2809 volunteers with an average age of 25.9 ± 16.5 years (ranging from 0 to 86 years) were included in the study; 53.9% (1514/2809) of them were men and 46.1% (1295/2809) were women. More than half of the study population consisted of single (59.1%; 1612/2726); 41.3% (1074/2809) were pupils or students. VHC Seroprevalence was 1.5% (42/2809). In multivariate analysis, the variables significantly associated with anti-HCV carriage were: be 60 years old and older (aOR: 46.9, 95% CI 10.2-216.0; p<0.0001) and a history of alcoholism (aOR: 6.3; 95% CI 95% 3.3-12.1; p < 0.0001)., Conclusion: in the general population, the seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was 1.5%. HCV infection mainly occurred in people aged 60 years and older and in those with a history of alcoholism., Competing Interests: Les auteurs ne déclarent aucun conflit d'intérêts., (Copyright: Aboudou Raïmi Kpossou et al.)