Department of Pathology, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Kwara State University, Malete. Nigeria.
Viral Immunol. 2021 May;34(4):284-287. doi: 10.1089/vim.2020.0259.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa with a prevalence rate of >7%. It is an important clinical problem due to its potential adverse sequelae, including hepatocellular carcinoma. The additional challenge of its associated chronic infection makes its prevention difficult despite the widely available vaccine. Infectious chronic HBV carriers are likely to be the most common source of HBV infection in the community. This study aims to study the degree of infectiousness of HBV carriers by testing for HBV envelope antigen (HBeAg) and antibody among HBV carriers attending the gastrointestinal clinic at University College Hospital (UCH, Ibadan, Nigeria). This is a cross-sectional study among 129 consecutively recruited HBV infected individuals who gave informed consent to participate in the study. The participants of the study were recruited from clients attending the gastrointestinal clinic of UCH. The sera obtained from the participants were tested for HBsAg, HBeAg, and antibodies to HBV envelope antibodies (HBeAb) using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kits by DIA.PRO (Diagnostic Bioprobes Srl, Milan, Italy) according to the manufacturer's instruction. Of 129 samples collected, 63 (48.8%) tested positive for HBeAg, whereas 72 (55.8%) tested positive for HBeAb ( = 0.012); HBeAg prevalence was higher in females than males and also prevalent among the age group of 31-40 years. Seventy-four (57.4%) of the participants also tested positive for both HBeAg and HBeAb, whereas 55 (42.6%) were negative for both. This study shows that there is a high level of infectiousness among HBsAg-positive individuals in Ibadan, Nigeria.
乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染是撒哈拉以南非洲的一个主要健康挑战，流行率>7%。由于其潜在的不良后果，包括肝细胞癌，这是一个重要的临床问题。尽管有广泛可用的疫苗，但由于其相关的慢性感染的额外挑战，其预防仍然很困难。传染性慢性 HBV 携带者可能是社区中最常见的 HBV 感染源。本研究旨在通过检测乙型肝炎病毒包膜抗原（HBeAg）和抗体来研究 HBV 携带者的传染性程度，这些 HBV 携带者在尼日利亚伊巴丹大学学院医院（UCH）的胃肠诊所就诊。这是一项横断面研究，共纳入 129 名连续招募的 HBV 感染个体，他们同意参与研究。研究对象是从 UCH 胃肠诊所就诊的患者中招募的。根据制造商的说明，使用 DIA.PRO（米兰诊断生物探针公司，意大利）提供的商业酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）试剂盒，从参与者中获得的血清检测 HBsAg、HBeAg 和 HBV 包膜抗体的抗体（HBeAb）。在收集的 129 个样本中，有 63 个（48.8%）检测出 HBeAg 阳性，而 72 个（55.8%）检测出 HBeAb 阳性（=0.012）；HBeAg 患病率在女性中高于男性，在 31-40 岁年龄组中也很普遍。74 名（57.4%）参与者也同时检测出 HBeAg 和 HBeAb 阳性，而 55 名（42.6%）两者均为阴性。本研究表明，在尼日利亚伊巴丹，HBsAg 阳性个体中存在高水平的传染性。
