Incidental hepatitis B virus in Sudanese patients and relative risk factors: Why more screening is needed in primary care?

Haifaa A M Hassan; Abdelsalam M A Nail; Nassir A Babiker; Mohamed H Ahmed; Emadeldin Hassan E Konozy; Musaab Ahmed; Nadir Abuzeid

doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_9_22

Incidental hepatitis B virus in Sudanese patients and relative risk factors: Why more screening is needed in primary care?

J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Nov;11(11):6856-6862. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_9_22. Epub 2022 Dec 16.

Authors

Haifaa A M Hassan¹, Abdelsalam M A Nail^{1

2}, Nassir A Babiker³, Mohamed H Ahmed⁴, Emadeldin Hassan E Konozy⁵, Musaab Ahmed^{6

7}, Nadir Abuzeid⁸

Affiliations

¹ Tropical Diseases Teaching Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Omdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan.
³ Department of Medical Laboratory, Wad Medani Teaching Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wad Medani, Sudan.
⁴ Department of Medicine and HIV Metabolic Clinic, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Milton Keynes, UK.
⁵ Biotechnology Department, Africa City of Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.
⁶ College of Medicine, Bio-allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
⁷ Center of Medical and Bio-allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
⁸ Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory of Sciences, Omdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan.

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is considered one of the most paternally transmissible viruses. Therefore, education about its risk factors and transmission is vital in decreasing the prevalence of the disease burden in Sudan. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relative risk factors of HBV and its impact on the society.

Materials and methods: A facility-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among those who were incidentally detected with HBV surface antigen (HbsAg) and their contact family members by ICT and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in Tropical Diseases Teaching Hospital, Omdurman locality, Khartoum state, Sudan.

Results: The study recruited 112 participants, among whom 63 individuals incidentally attended for screening for HBV and this led to contact tracing of 49 individuals (contact relative group). Among 63 patients of the incidental group, there were 83.9% males and 16.1% females. In the contact tracing group consisting of 49 individuals, there were 83.3% males and 16.7% females (odds ratio [OR] = 1.375, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.14-13.6; P = 0.000). All the participants were screened for HBsAg. HBV was found to have a significant association with male gender (OR = 1.375, 95% CI = 0.14-13.6; P = 0.000), marital status (OR = 627.084, 95% CI = 48-8195; P = 0.000), working as police officers (OR = 524.2, 95% CI = 43.5-6314; P = 0.000), residing in Khartoum (OR = 520.173, 95% CI = 43-6290; P = 0.000), being illiterate (OR = 558.4, 95% CI = 47.7-6544.7; P = 0.000), vaccination status (OR = 625.4, 95% CI = 48.9-7996.3; P = 0.000), and with some concomitant diseases (OR = 559.193, 95% CI = 47.7-6561.5; P = 0.000).

Conclusion: The HBV is still considered a very critical, highly infectious disease; therefore, primary care physicians have an important role in the investigation, prevention, and health education, in order to prevent the viral spread.

Keywords: Contact Relative of HBV Patient; HBV; hepatitis B virus; incidental HBV.