Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus in N'Djamena, Chad

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is very common in sub-Saharan Africa and widely distributed worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus in N'Djamena, Chad. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the city of N'Djamena. Three neighborhoods were randomly selected. The methodology applied was a two-stage probability survey with the neighborhoods as the primary unit and the squares (sectors) as the secondary unit. Persons from the selected households were screened for HBV infection. Results: Two hundred and ninety-nine (299) individuals were recruited in this study series. The majority were men (69.6%). The mean age was 29.5 ± 9 years with extremes of 15 to 45 years. The prevalence of those screened was 24.1% with a male predominance (54.1%). There was a statistically significant difference between HBsAg carriage and sex (p = 0.001). On the other hand, the difference between HBV carriage and education level was not statistically significant. In addition, few people had information on the modes of transmission of HBV and their serological status. Conclusion: Viral hepatitis B is a major global public health problem. However, most of the people recruited in this series were unaware of their status and very few had information on this disease.