BackgroundChronic Hepatitis B infection is a major health problem in Republic of Congo therefore molecular analysis of HBV strains is important to detect the patients at high risk of disease progression.MethodsSerum samples were obtained from 111 chronic HBV patients in Pointe Noire. HBsAg, HBeAg and HBeAb were detected. A fragment of the preS1 region of HBV was amplified and sequenced to determine genotypes, subgenotypes and to identify mutations.ResultsOf the 111 samples analyzed, 35 patients were asymptomatic carriers (ASC), 24 with a chronic active hepatitis (CAH), 33 with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 19 have a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The mean age were 45 ± 13 year, 88 (79.3 %) were male and 23 (20.7 %) female. The prevalence of HBeAg was 15.3 % and 73 % of subjects were anti-HBe positive. The mean serum level of alanine aminotransferase transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) was 25.1 ± 9 IU/L and 28.6 ± 10 IU/L respectively. Eighty two samples out of 111 (73.9 %) were genotyped by the analyzing of the S region of HBV, 58 (70.7 %) cases belonged to HBV genotype E and 24 (29.3 %) were genotype A with three subgenotypes; A3 (66.7 %), A4 (20.8 %) and A6 (12.5 %). Prevalence of genotype A was relatively high in CAH (33.3 %) and HCC (31.6 %) patients in comparison with other groups. The most prevalent amino acids substitutions were R38K found in 14 (17.1 %) sequences, following by H44L in 11 (13.4 %), K13E in 8 (9.8 %), N29K in 8 (9.8 %), A35E in 8 (9.8 %), V80I in 7 (8.5 %) and in 6 (7.3 %) sequences for S90T. Different substitutions located in the hepatocyte binding site were higher among patients with LC and HCC (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThis study have shown that HBV genotype E and A were the most frequent strains circulating in Republic of Congo patients. HBV pres1 substitutions found in this study were associated with severe clinical forms of liver diseases. This data have shown the importance of implementing an effective program to fight HBV infection.

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Background: Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective virus that requires the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) for replication. It is a major cause of severe acute and chronic hepatitis B. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of HDV in blood donors. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study involving HBsAg-positive blood donors covering the period from July to December 2020. Testing for HDV RNA was performed by conventional two-step RT-PCR. Data were analysed using SPSS version 22 software. Result: Of 113 HBsAg positive samples included in the study 22 or 19.5% were HDV positive. The prevalence of HDV was higher in the age group 31 -45 years (45.5%), in male donors (71.4%) and in donors with secondary education (50.0%). Furthermore, 55.4% belonged to the family donor category. A significant statistical difference was observed between HDV infection, tattoos, piercings and multiple sexual partners. Conclusion: This study shows a high prevalence of HDV among blood donors in Brazzaville.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a public health problem and is highly endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence and potential risk factors of hepatitis C virus in pregnant women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving pregnant women who attended at seven antenatal clinics in Pointe Noire, from June to November 2018. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain participants data. Samples were screened for HCV infection by using 4 th ELISA methods and data analysis was done by Epi-info version 7.0 statistical software. Results: A total of 150 pregnant women were included, out of which 11 (7.3%) were positive for HCV. The high proportion of HCV was found in age group 25-34 years (45.4%), educated (81.1%), professional (36.4%) and 54.6% were in second trimester gestational stage. Moreover, 54.6% of HCV positive patients had scarification and 45.5% had a history of surgery. There was not a statistically significant association between demographics characteristics, risks factors and HCV seropositivity (p > 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of HCV infection and confirmed that this infection is a public health problem in pregnant women in Pointe Noire.

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