Abstract
Parenteral transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) during blood transfusion is not insignificant. Although blood transfusion safety has greatly improved over the last 15 years, the transfusion risk of HBV remains high in developing countries. In the context where blood transfusion safety is limited in some hospitals in Cameroon, the development of good and quality practice for blood donation, based on the use of the most sensitive techniques for the detection of infectious risk of blood donation should be a priority of health authorities. The aim of this paper is to document the epidemiology of HBV infection in the population of blood donors and to assess the risk of infection during blood transfusions at the Central Hospital Yaoundé (CHY), Ca- meroon. Methods: During a seven months period, 1000 volunteer donors were recruited prospectively at the blood bank of the CHY. Those included in the study were people aged from 18 years to 55 years without any particular medical history. Data collection was done through an investigation form. Samples were first analysed at the CHY and then Centre Pasteur of Cameroon. Results: Of the 1000 samples tested 108 (10.8%) were positive for HBs Ag. The male and the female sex represented 83.1% and 16.9% respectively. According to the age groups, 56.2% were 18 to 27 years, 30.5% were 28 years to 37 years, 10.4% were 38 years to 47 years and 29% were 48 years to 55 years. The 892 negative sera were analyzed for total anti-HBc antibodies of which 75.78% were positive and 24.56% negative. The 676 samples positive for anti-HBc antibody were retested for HBs Ag using enzyme immunoassay with a confidence level of 95%, between 52 and 82 positive tests were still positive, a proportion that vary between 7.64% and 12.14% (9.89% ± 2.25%). Conclusion: The prevalence rate of 10.8% found in our series is consistent with data in Cameroon. The infectious risk of transmission of HBV among blood donors remains a major problem (9.89% ± 2.25%) related to the test used.
Highlights
Viral hepatitis B is a major public health problem in the world where the number of people infected is estimated at 2 billion and 350 million for chronic carriers
The aim of this paper is to document the epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the population of blood donors and to assess the risk of infection during blood transfusions at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé (CHY), Cameroon
We propose to document the epidemiology of HBV infection in Cameroon by determining the prevalence of HBs Ag in the population of blood donors and assessing the risk of infection of HBV during blood transfusions at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé (CHY), Cameroon
Summary
Viral hepatitis B is a major public health problem in the world where the number of people infected is estimated at 2 billion and 350 million for chronic carriers. HBV is the first cause of hepatocellular carcinoma in South-East and Sub-Saharan Africa [4]. The most common means of transmission of HBV are from mother to child, parenteral and sexual transmission. Besides these means of transmission, parenteral transmission of HBV during blood transfusion is not insignificant. In Greece, a study carried out in 1996 showed that the rate of post transfusion hepatitis was higher than the prevalence of hepatitis C [6]. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of HBs Ag among blood donors ranges between 9.2% in the DRC [7] and 10.7% in Cameroon [8]. The transfusion risk is even higher if the donation is made during the window period when the HBV infection
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