Strategy for the control of hepatitis B virus infection in the Middel East and North Africa

Seroprevalence rates of transfusion-transmitted infections among blood donors in Jordan

“…The positive effect of the enhancement in the socioeconomic status [15,16] in Jordan was also seen in our study where the prevalence rates in HBsAg and anti-HBc markers among healthy donors showed a significant decrease from 2009 to 2013. In addition, it is possible that the lower prevalence rates in the HBsAg marker might reflect the fact that some of the donors in this study were healthcare providers, which means that they were previously vaccinated against HBV, thus providing a selection bias.…”

Sero-epidemiology of hepatitis B infection in pregnant women in Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates

“…10 However, the main mode of transmission in UAE and Qatar could be childhood or horizontal transmission (what Toukan et al referred to as person-to-person, non-sexual, nonparenteral and intrafamilial contact between asymptomatic HBV carriers and susceptible individuals). 7 Horizontal transmission also results in chronic carriage, but less often than when infection occurs perinatally, leading to a gradual dwindling of the reservoir of chronic carriers. This could be one of the reasons why there are more chronic carriers in Oman than in UAE or Qatar in our study.…”

“…The risk ranges from 70 to 90% for infants born to mothers who are positive for both HBsAg and HBeAg, in contrast to the 10-40% risk in infants born to mothers who are positive for HBsAg but negative for HBeAg. 7,8 Comparatively, East Asia has been found to have a higher prevalence of HBeAg-positive mothers and a greater risk of perinatal transmission from HBeAgpositive mothers than sub-Saharan Africa. 9 In the Gulf States, data regarding HBV prevalence is limited and data regarding HBV prevalence in pregnant women is lacking.…”

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses: a review of viral genomes, viral induced host immune responses, genotypic distributions and worldwide epidemiology

“…The 10-60% and the chronic carrier rate is 2-7%. In the region of intermediate endemicity, majority of infection develop in adults but rate of chronic infection are higher in infants due to early childhood exposure to viral infection [57] . The seroprevalence of HBV infection has been reported 5% in India, while in Italy, Russia and Turkey the prevalence rate ranges from 3%-10% [58][59][60][61] .…”