Prevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among visitors of Shashemene General Hospital voluntary counseling and testing center

Abstract

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is significant health problem, as it can lead to chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatic carcinoma. Due to shared routes of transmission, HBV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection is common and is an emerging concern in the clinical management of patients because of increased mortality, accelerated hepatic disease progression, and the frequent hepatotoxicity caused by anti-retroviral therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and its risk factors, among individuals visiting Shashemene General Hospital VCT center.FindingsInstitution based cross-sectional study was performed from November 3, 2008 to December 29, 2008 and 384 voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) clients were investigated. Data on socio demographic and HBV risk factors was collected using structured questionnaires. Blood samples were collected and screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HIV by commercially available rapid test kits. The prevalence of HBsAg in this study group was 5.7%. Fourteen percent of HIV positive subjects (8/57) and 4.3% (14/327) of HIV negative subjects were positive for HBsAg. Significantly high prevalence of HBsAg was observed among individuals who had history of invasive procedures, like tooth extraction, abortion and ear piercing; history of hospital admission, history of unsafe inject and HIV positives.ConclusionsAlthough HBsAg prevalence is much higher among subjects who are HIV positive (14.0% versus 4.3%), the prevalence of HBsAg in HIV negative subjects is high enough to warrant a recommendation to screen all clients at VCT centers irrespective of HIV status.

Assessment of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections and associated risk factors in HIV infected patients at Debretabor hospital, South Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

“…However, the prevalence of HBsAg was found lower compared to the 10.9% in Gondar City among street dwellers [31] . Similarly, it is also lower than the 14.0% prevalence reported in Shashemene and 20% in immigrants from Ethiopia among HIV infected patients [7,25] . Moreover, this finding is relatively lower compared to some studies done in African countries like 11.5% in Nigeria and 12.2% in Gambia among HIV infected patients [21,34] .…”

“…Globally, a prevalence of 5%-15% has been reported for chronic HBV infection among HIV patients [5] . In Ethiopia, some hospital-based studies documented from 3.9% to 14% hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence in HIV patients [6,7] . HIV-HBV co-infected patients are reported to be at higher risk for developing chronic hepatitis B [8] , decreased hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) clearance rate, increased HBV replication and higher HBV DNA viral loads [9] .…”

“…Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections has been studied in different parts of Ethiopia [6,7,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31] . The distribution of the viruses and risk factors for their transmission have not been well addressed in varying community groups like HIV infected patients.…”

Study of Risk Factors Related to HBsAg Reactivity among Outdoor Patients in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Bangladesh

“…Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is known to be the trait of HBV infection with its fatal impact on public health [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Parameters used to characterize HBV infection may lie under the prevalence of HBV antigens and host antibodies; HBV genome; biochemical markers, bilirubin level; and the degree of hepatic inflammation [3,10,11,12].…”

“…The world can be divided into three areas where the prevalence of chronic HBV infection is high (>8%), intermediate (2-8%) and low (<2%). High endemicity areas include South-east Asia and the Pacific Basin (excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand), sub-Sahara Africa, the Amazon Basin, parts of Middle East, the central Asian Republics and some countries in Eastern Europe is about 70-90% of the population becomes HBV infected before age of 40 and 8-20% of people are HBV carrier [9][10].…”