HBs Antigen Seroprevalence of the Hepatitis B Virus in Blood Donors using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay at the Essos Hospital Centre of Yaounde, Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most common infectious pathogens worldwide particularly in sub Saharan African (SSA). In Cameroon, HBV is highly endemic (HBsAg >8%), suggesting a rigorous transfusion safety policy on the national territory. This study aimed to determine HBs antigen (HBsAg) seroprevalence of the HBV in blood donors using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) at the Essos Hospital Centre (EHC) in Yaounde, Cameroon. Methods: From January, 18th to May 31st, 2021, we carried out a quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study among 326 volunteer blood donors attending EHC of Yaounde, Cameroon. The socio-demographic data of the participants was described while the surface antigen of hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) was determined using qualitative ELISA (Rapid Labs HBsAg) technique in the sera or plasma. The data was analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) v. 22. The difference between two proportions was considered significant when the probability of error was less than 0.05 (p<0.05).     Results: The median age of blood donors was 25 years (min-max: 12-52 years), the male were more represented with 96.32% (314/326) and the sex ratio (M/F) was 26.2. Globally, the HBsAg seroprevalence among blood donors was 13.19% (95% CI: 9.7%-17.4%; 43/326). The seroprevalence of HBV (HBsAg) was not statistically associated with sociodemographic characteristics of the study population (p<0.05). Meanwhile, this seroprevalence was high in male (95.35%; n=41), in the blood donors aged between 18 and 26 years old (51.16%; n=22), in single (83.72%; n=36) in blood donors with secondary education (74.42%; n=32). In addition, informal (55.81%; n=24), catholic (100.0%) and family blood donors (100.0%) were more infected. Conclusion: This study revealed a very high HBs antigen seroprevalence in blood donors attending the EHC in Yaounde, Cameroon. However, none of the sociodemographic characteristics was not significantly associated with HBV infection in the study population. Thus, reducing the frequency of post-transfusion hepatitis B remains a permanent challenge in Cameroon.