Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Bahrain, 2000 through 2010

Abstract

Hepatitis B infection is one of the world's major infectious diseases with about 350 million chronic carriers. Because no data is published on the prevalence and risk factors of this important disease in Bahrain, this article evaluates the available data from 2000 to 2010 to estimate the prevalence of the infection and to evaluate the risk factors. Epidemiologic data on HBV cases were collected from the major hospitals and health centers in Bahrain and statistically analyzed. Over this indicated decade, 877,892 individuals were screened for HBV infection and 5055 positive cases were reported in Bahrain. The prevalence of HBV infection during that period was 0.58%. Although there was no significant difference in the prevalence over the period of 10 years, the actual number of positive cases has almost doubled in the later years especially in 2007 and 2008. The prevalence was significantly higher among males (62.3%; P<0.01). Most cases were associated with non Bahrainis and the prevalence was significantly higher among them (68.3%; P<0.01) than it was among Bahrainis (31.7%). Seventy eight percent (2877/3690) of non Bahraini cases were for citizens of six countries which are highly endemic for HBV, namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia and Ethiopia. Dental procedures and surgical operations were the main risk factors of infection as 37.2% and 35.6% of the patients were probably infected through this route. The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in Bahrain indicates that Bahrain had low HBV endemicity for the last 10 years (2000–2010). Our study verifies the significant role played by expatriates/immigrants in the present epidemiology of hepatitis B in Bahrain. Increasing HBV vaccination of high risk groups, active educational and media campaign, screening HBV infection during pregnancy, and surveillance of hepatitis B infected individuals will further decrease the prevalence of the disease in Bahrain.

Effects of Risk Factors on Anti-HBs Development in Hepatitis B Vaccinated and Nonvaccinated Populations

“…Globally, more than 300 million of people are chronically infected with HBV, and approximately 1.2 million people die each year from chronic HBV infection, liver cirrhosis, and liver cancer (10,11,18). Hepatitis B is found worldwide, but it is particularly prevalent in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa (7,12,14).…”

Epidemiological Study of Hepatitis B, C and HIV Cases among the Foreigners Visiting Sulaimani City from 2013 Through 2016

“…[37]. Also in Janahi et al study done in Bahrain, they screened more than 800,000 of foreigners and their citizens and found that most common risk factors were dental procedures 37.2% followed by surgery , family history and tattooing [38] .The family history is another important risk factor for HBV and HCV acquisition especially when the mother is the carrier , and this is the most common route of infection in the highly endemic regions [39], in Mohammad et al study it was shown that about 30% of HBV cases were having a family history [6]. In our study 10.5% of HBV positive cases and 8% of HCV positive cases had positive Family History; this may be related to unawareness of a previous diagnosis by majority of the visitors.…”

Management of individuals with chronic hepatitis B virus infection and persistent normal or mildly elevated aminotransferase levels

“…1,2 Chronic HBV infection is a serious health problem that puts a financial burden on the Chinese society, where the prevalence of positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriage is proximately 7.2%. 1,2 Chronic HBV infection is a serious health problem that puts a financial burden on the Chinese society, where the prevalence of positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriage is proximately 7.2%.…”

“…[18][19][20][21] Moreover, these methods may poorly correlate with the degree of liver disease in CHB sometimes, resulting in a failure to show efficacy of necroinflammatory activity or fibrosis. [22][23][24][25] In this study, we determined whether the clinical parameters in combination of liver biopsy could accurately discriminate between different phases in natural history of patients with CHB through retrospectively investigated 235 subjects with positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) with normal or mildly elevated ALT levels (1)(2). [22][23][24][25] In this study, we determined whether the clinical parameters in combination of liver biopsy could accurately discriminate between different phases in natural history of patients with CHB through retrospectively investigated 235 subjects with positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) with normal or mildly elevated ALT levels (1)(2).…”