High prevalence of hepatitis B infections in Burkina Faso (1996–2017): a systematic review with meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

Abstract

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was long considered an important public health concern in Burkina Faso and still represents a major cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis in the active population. To counter the problem, a national strategic plan was developed and adopted in July 2017 to coordinate viral hepatitis elimination’s efforts. However evidence to support its implementation remains scanty and scattered. The main purpose of this study was to summarize available information from per-reviewed articles published over the last two decades to accurately estimate the prevalence of HBV infection in Burkina Faso.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search with meta-analysis of scientific articles using Science-Direct, Web-of-Science, PubMed/Medline, and Google Scholar. We systematically assessed all relevant publications that measured the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen and which were published between 1996 and 2017. We estimated the national HBV prevalence and its 95% confident interval. We subsequently adjusted the meta-analysis to possible sources of heterogeneity.ResultsWe retrieved and analyzed a total of 22 full text papers including 99,672 participants. The overall prevalence was 11.21%. The prevalence after adjustment were 9.41%, 11.11%, 11.73% and 12.61% in the general population, pregnant women, blood donors and HIV-positive persons respectively. The prevalence was higher before implementation of HBV universal vaccination and decreased from 12.80% between 1996 and 2001 to 11.11% between 2012 and 2017. The prevalence was also higher in rural area 17.35% than urban area 11.11%. The western regions were more affected with 12.69% than the central regions 10.57%. The prevalence was 14.66% in the boucle of Mouhoun region and 14.59 in the center-west region. Aggregate data were not available for the other regions.ConclusionsHBV has clearly an important burden in Burkina Faso as described by its high prevalence and this problem significantly challenges the national health care system. There is an urgent need for effective public health interventions to eliminate the problem. However, higher quality data are needed to produce reliable epidemiological estimates that will guide control efforts towards the achievement of the national strategic plan’s goals.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5432-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of hepatitis B virus in Ethiopia

“…The current prevalence (7%) among HIV was exactly similar to the previous estimate of 7% [19]. However, the result was lower than findings from Nigeria 13.6%, Burkina Faso 12.61%, and Cameron 12.9% [96, 99, 105]. For this reason, viral endemicity, community awareness on infection prevention, and the role of stakeholders with respect to infection prevention and control could the potential factors.…”

“…Concerning HBV among pregnant women, a high (5%) prevalence was noted that require prompt screening of pregnant women during their antenatal care visit and provide proper treatment to decrease the rate of mother to child transmission of the virus. Though the result was far higher than recent findings from India 1.01% [102] and Iran (1.18 and 1.25%) conducted at different time periods [103, 104], it was significantly lower compared to the findings from Nigeria 14.1%, Cameroon 11.11%, Burkina Faso 9.8%, and Ghana 13.1% [96–99]. Most probability this variability could be due to the endemicity of the virus among the mentioned countries than Ethiopia or it could be due to the increased attention of the Ethiopian government in providing care and follow-up for the pregnant women which could significantly reduce the transmission and prevalence of HBV among the pregnant women.…”

“…However, a lower prevalence estimate (2.03%) was obtained from the Eastern Mediterranean countries [101]. The current prevalence among blood donors was much lower than findings from Nigeria 14%, Ghana 11.75%, Burkina Faso 11.73%, and Cameroon 10.5% [96–99]. The possible explanation could be due to high endemicity of the virus in the said countries than Ethiopia.…”

Characteristics of Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection With Genotype E Predominance in Burkina Faso

“…( 8 ) The high HBV prevalence in Burkina Faso, as in many other African countries, is due mainly to the relatively recent introduction of HBV vaccination and the failure to identify high‐risk groups with active HBV infection, resulting in dramatically high rates of transmission in the perinatal period or early childhood. ( 5‐7,9‐19 )…”

Countrywide Survey of Plants Used for Liver Disease Management by Traditional Healers in Burkina Faso

“…In Burkina Faso, liver disease accounted for 3,105 deaths in 2017 (2.3% of total deaths) ( www.worldlifeexpectancy.com ). The major causes of liver disease recorded in Burkina Faso are viral hepatitis infections of all types A, B, C, D, and E ( Lingani et al, 2018 ; Tuaillon et al, 2018 ). Liver disease also can be induced to a lesser extent by liver parasites, i.e., plathelminth and helminth infections ( Suzuki et al, 2011 ; Bagayan et al, 2016 ; Erismann et al, 2016 ); by chemical toxins; by mycotoxins ( Warth et al, 2012 ); by alcohol consumption; and by tobacco smoking.…”