Seroprevalence and risk factors of hepatitis B, C and D virus infection amongst patients with features of hepatitis in a referral hospital in Botswana: A cross-sectional study

Sajini Souda; Julius C Mwita; Francesca Cainelli; Naledi B Mannathoko; Motswedi Anderson; Sikhulile Moyo

doi:10.4102/sajid.v36i1.275

Seroprevalence and risk factors of hepatitis B, C and D virus infection amongst patients with features of hepatitis in a referral hospital in Botswana: A cross-sectional study

S Afr J Infect Dis. 2021 Jul 19;36(1):275. doi: 10.4102/sajid.v36i1.275. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Sajini Souda¹, Julius C Mwita², Francesca Cainelli³, Naledi B Mannathoko⁴, Motswedi Anderson⁵, Sikhulile Moyo⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
³ Department of Medicine, Raffles Medical Group, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
⁵ Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.

Abstract

Background: Viral hepatitis is a major global health problem. There is a paucity of data from Botswana on the seroprevalence of markers of hepatitis. The objective of the study was to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis D virus (HDV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in patients with clinical features of hepatitis and/or altered liver function tests.

Method: This cross-sectional study was done at Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) in Gaborone, Botswana, from February 2015 to July 2016. It involved 328 adult patients with any of the following: jaundice, history of liver disease and/or increased serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and serum bilirubin of > 2 times the upper limit of normal (ULN).

Results: Active or chronic active hepatitis (hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] positive) was identified in 46.7% of patients. Antibodies to HDV infection were detected in 4.6% of the HBsAg-positive patients and antibodies to HCV infection in 4.3% of the study patients. Immunity against HBV infection was noted in 34.5% of patients. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection was self-reported by 42.7% of HBsAg-positive patients with known HIV status.

Conclusion: High prevalence rate of HBV, HCV, HDV infection and HIV co-infection was observed in patients with liver disease attending PMH.

Keywords: Botswana; hepatitis B virus infection; hepatitis C virus infection; hepatitis D virus infection; human immunodeficiency virus infection; liver disease; prevalence; risk factors.