Addo Margaret, Apaame Sule, Ghanney Michael Abbey, Adu Hannah Konadu, DeWitt Michael E, Addo Seth Offei
Gbawe Seventh Day Adventist Hospital Gbawe Ghana.
Department of Medical Microbiology University of Ghana Medical School, University of Ghana Accra Ghana.
Public Health Chall. 2025 Jun 14;4(2):e70071. doi: 10.1002/puh2.70071. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Millions of individuals worldwide suffer from hepatitis B, a serious, potentially fatal liver infection brought on by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Although vaccines are available for HBV, infections continue to persist in Ghana. This study reports the prevalence of HBV infections in outpatients and pregnant women attending antenatal care at the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Hospital in Gbawe, Ghana. This retrospective cohort study involved the review of de-identified medical records of outpatients and pregnant women who visited the hospital between 2022 and 2024. Data on their HBV infection status, sex and age were analysed using R version 4.4.1. A total of 531 outpatients and 768 pregnant women visited the hospital during the study period. The prevalence of HBV infection was 7.5% in outpatients and 3.9% in pregnant women. It was observed that outpatients were more likely to be hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive (OR = 2.0, 95%CI = 1.24-3.28, = 0.005). It was also seen that HBV prevalence increased from 2022 to 2023 and decreased in 2024. There is a need for more educational campaigns to raise awareness of HBV infections, especially in pregnant women due to the risk of mother-to-child transmission. Furthermore, vaccinations need to be made affordable and easily accessible to the general population to ensure maximum coverage within the country.
全球数以百万计的人患有乙型肝炎，这是一种由乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）引起的严重的、可能致命的肝脏感染。尽管有针对HBV的疫苗，但加纳的感染情况仍持续存在。本研究报告了加纳Gbawe的基督复临安息日会（SDA）医院门诊患者和接受产前护理的孕妇中HBV感染的流行情况。这项回顾性队列研究涉及对2022年至2024年间到该医院就诊的门诊患者和孕妇的匿名医疗记录进行审查。使用R版本4.4.1分析了他们的HBV感染状况、性别和年龄数据。在研究期间，共有531名门诊患者和768名孕妇到该医院就诊。门诊患者中HBV感染的患病率为7.5%，孕妇中为3.9%。观察到门诊患者更有可能乙型肝炎表面抗原（HBsAg）呈阳性（OR = 2.0，95%CI = 1.24 - 3.28，P = 0.005）。还发现HBV患病率从2022年到2023年有所上升，在2024年有所下降。需要开展更多的教育活动来提高对HBV感染的认识，特别是针对孕妇，因为存在母婴传播的风险。此外，需要使疫苗对普通民众来说价格可承受且易于获取，以确保在该国实现最大覆盖率。
