Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Serological Patterns in Benue State, Nigeria

Emmanuel Msugh Mbaawuaga,Anthony Chibuogwu Ike,Christian Ukuoma Iroegbu

doi:10.4236/ojmm.2014.41001

Emmanuel Msugh Mbaawuaga, Anthony Chibuogwu Ike + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.4236/ojmm.2014.41001

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Abstract

A total of 1535 randomly collected blood specimens from different groups of consenting subjects in Benue State, were screened by ELISA for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B surface antibodies (HBsAb), hepatitis B core antibodies (HBcAb), hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg) and Hepatitis B core IgM antibodies (HBcIgM). The pattern of occurrence of these HBV markers in each blood sample was used to determine individuals with current, acute or chronic infection histories. Of the 1535 sampled individuals, 1319 (85.9%) showed a serological evidence of exposure to HBV infection, some through natural infection (22.7%) and others (13.0%) through vaccination; 12% of the exposed were inferred to be currently infected and 91.2% chronically infected. Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) antigen was also detected in 2.7% of the HBsAg positive individuals; and was encountered more (6.7%) in those with acute hepatitis than those with chronic disease. Thus, there are apparently healthy persons with acute and chronic HBV and HDV infection who may serve as source of infection to others. This calls for a government organized Hepatitis Programme to treat cases of acute and chronic hepatitis and roll out strategy for preventing the spread of HBV infections.

Highlights

Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepadnaviridae, is the leading cause of chronic liver disease and liver related deathHow to cite this paper: Mbaawuaga, E.M., Iroegbu, C.U. and Ike, A.C. (2014) Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Serological Patterns in Benue State, Nigeria
The most common outcome after infection is the expression of diverse serological markers of varying epidemiological and clinical significance namely, Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), Hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), Hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb), Hepatitis B early antigen (HBeAg), Hepatitis Be antibody (HBeAb) and Hepatitis B core IgM antibody (HBcIgM) [3]
Considering these markers singly, HBsAg was observed in 12.0% of the subjects, HBsAb in 36.7% while HBcAb was detected in 82.5%

Summary

Introduction

Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepadnaviridae, is the leading cause of chronic liver disease and liver related deathHow to cite this paper: Mbaawuaga, E.M., Iroegbu, C.U. and Ike, A.C. (2014) Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Serological Patterns in Benue State, Nigeria. Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepadnaviridae, is the leading cause of chronic liver disease and liver related death. (2014) Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Serological Patterns in Benue State, Nigeria. Outcome of infection by the non-cytopathic, hepatotrophic HBV depends on the quality and strength of the antiviral immune response [2]. Symptomatic and asymptomatic forms of both acute and chronic infections may be discovered incidentally only through laboratory assay of these viral markers. These markers may occur singly or in various combinations depending on the natural history of the infection [3]

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