Overt and occult hepatitis B virus infection detected among chronic kidney disease patients on haemodialysis at a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana
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Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PLOS ONE
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is endemic in Ghana and chronic kidney disease patients
on haemodialysis are a high-risk group for HBV infection. We determined the prevalence of
overt and occult HBV infection among haemodialysis patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hos pital in Ghana. 104 consenting End Stage Renal Disease patients on long-term haemodialy sis were recruited for the study and their socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory
information were obtained using structured questionnaire. All the participants were tested
for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The HBsAg-negative participants were re tested for hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) and HBV
DNA using chemiluminescence and Roche COBAS Ampli-Prep/TaqMan analyser and real time polymerase chain reaction. Eight (7.7%) of the total participants were positive for
HBsAg. Among the 96 HBsAg-negative participants, 12.5% (12) were HBcAb-positive,
7.3% (7) had detectable HBV DNA (mean = 98.7±53.5 IU/mL) and 40.6% (39) were positive
for HBsAb. Five out of the 7 HBV DNA-positive participants were males and only one partici pant was negative for HBcAb. Seventy-three out of the 96 HBsAg-negative participants
were vaccinated and 37 of these vaccinated individuals had significant HBsAb titres (mean
= 423.21± 380.72 IU/mL). Our data demonstrated that the prevalence of overt and occult
HBV infection among the haemodialysis (HD) patients was 7.7% and 7.3%, respectively,
and only 50.7% of those who showed proof of vaccination were protected from HBV
infection
Description
Research Article
Keywords
hepatitis B virus, chronic kidney disease, Ghana
Citation
Dzudzor B, Nsowah KK, Agyemang S, Vento S, Amarh V, Boima V, et al. (2024) Overt and occult hepatitis B virus infection detected among chronic kidney disease patients on haemodialysis at a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana. PLoS ONE 19(3): e0290917. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0290917