Hepatitis C virus in Zimbabwe

A research article on the prevalence of the Hepatitis C virus in ZimbabweLiver disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in Zimbabwe, accounting for more than six per cent of the deaths in three medical wards of Harare Central Hospital (IT Gangaidzo, 1994, unpublished observations). In western countries, HCV infection is the most common cause of chronic viral hepatitis and ranks a slight second below chronic alcoholism as a cause of cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatom

Iron and alcohol content of traditional beers in rural Zimbabwe

No Abstract. Central African Journal of Medicine Vol. 45 (6) 1999: pp. 136-14

Serum ferritin concentrations in Africans with low dietary iron

In the setting of high dietary, several studies have provided evidence for a strong effect of both high dietary iron and an unidentified genetic locus on iron stores in Africans. To investigate whether these effects are discernible in the setting of low dietary iron, serum ferritin concentrations were measured in 194 Zimbabwean men \u3e30 years of age and 299 postmenopausal women who consumed a non-iron-fortified diet and who did not drink iron-rich traditional beer or other alcoholic beverages. Comparisons were made with non-alcohol drinking African-Americans studied in the third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III) who consume an iron-fortified diet. As stratified by age and sex, serum ferritin concentrations were significantly lower in the 493 Zimbabweans studied than in 1,380 comparable African-Americans (P \u3c 0.0005). Nevertheless, nine Zimbabwean subjects (1.8% of all cases) had modestly elevated serum ferritin concentrations not associated with evidence of inflammation or hepatic dysfunction. These data suggest that mild serum ferritin concentration elevations may occur among Zimbabweans not exposed to high dietary iron and that iron fortification of the diet may have substantial effects on serum ferritin concentration. © Springer-Verlag 2009