Seroepidemiology of hepatitis B virus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: transmission patterns and vaccine control

Abstract

SUMMARYA community-based seroepidemiological survey of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was conducted in 1994 to inform on the transmission dynamics and control of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Venous blood from 4736 individuals under 50 years of age from 1262 households, selected using stratified cluster-sampling, was screened for HBV markers using commercial ELISAs. HBsAg prevalence was 7% (95 % CI 6-8), higher in males (9 % ; 7-10) than females (5 %; 4-6). HBeAg prevalence in HBsAg positives was 23 % (18-29), and less than 1 % of women of childbearing age were HBeAg positive. Overall HBV seroprevalence (any marker), rose steadily with age to over 70 % in 40-49 year olds, indicating significant childhood and adult transmission. Estimated instantaneous incidence was 3-4/100 susceptibles/year, higher in males than females in 0-4 year olds, and peaking in early childhood and young adults. The age at which 50 % had evidence of infection was around 20 years, and the herd immunity threshold is approximated at 63-77%. Addis Ababa is of intermediate-high HBV endemicity, with negligible perinatal transmission. Our main findings are the identification of a significant difference between males and females in the age-acquisition of HBV infection, and marked differences between age groups in HBV incidence rates. These results should target future research studies of underlying risk factors. Furthermore, we generate a crude estimate of the level of coverage of HBV vaccine that would be required to eliminate the virus from the study population.

Prevalence of Serologic Markers and Risk Factors for Hepatitis B Virus among Pregnant Women in Brazzaville, Congo

“…In our series, 3.4% of women positive for HBeAg, low prevalences were also detected in HBsAg positive pregnant women in some countries, in Ethiopia (<1%) [23], Nigeria (1.39%) [24] and by against the highest prevalences were found in other parts of South and Southeast Asia, where prevalence of HBeAg varies 15% -88% is reported in young women [11,25,26]. This difference was largely due to the natural history of HBV infection in Southeast Asia where infected individuals carry HBeAg and high viral load in the age groups that include most of the gestational age women [7,27].…”

The prevalence of transfusion transmitted infections: A focus on hepatitis B virus among blood donors at Hawassa blood bank center, Southern Ethiopia

“…Screening donor units for HBV infection should be routinely performed in all blood transfusion services. The prevalence of HBV in the Ethiopian general population was reported to be between 6.1% and 7.4% in some studies [33,34]. This shows there is a relatively lower prevalence rate of HBV in blood donors (4.2%) than in the general population that demonstrates the effectiveness of donor education and strict donor selection and deferral criteria used by blood bank centers.…”

Congestion Index of Portal Vein in the Evaluation of Liver Disease

“…Even in hepatitis endemic populations the seroprevalence of children is low compared to the adults 16,17 .According to the study by Lea et al, increasing duration of infection with cirrhosis is associated with increasing congestion indices, implying that hepatitis has an insidiously progressive course with cirrhosis as the ultimate end point of disease 18 .…”