Author(s)

Firmin Ankouane^*, Mathurin Kowo, Oudou Njoya, Elie Claude Ndjitoyap Ndam

Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The aim was to describe the epidemiology of the chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection within Yaoundé Hepatitis Therapeutic Committee. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study from June 2004 to May 2012. We consecutively collected epidemiological data (gender, age, alanine aminotransferase-ALT, HBe-antigen-HBeAg, hepatitis B viral load-HBV-DNA and cirrhosis evaluation) from naive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients with chronic HBV infection. Chronic HBV infection is defined by the persistence of HBsAg for at least six months. The level of serum HBV-DNA was determined by the COBAS-AmpliPrep Technical/COBAS-TaqMan HBV^® 2.0 (Roche). Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software (IBM Corporation, USA). Results: Of the 315 HBsAg-positive patients consulted, 74.6% were male; mean (SD) age 35.04 (10.25) years. Nearly 92% were HBeAg-negative. The serum ALT level was normal in 63.2%; HBV-DNA was detected in 81.0% and was ≤2000 IU/mL in 65.9%. Liver biopsy was performed in 145 (46.03%); 10 (6.9%) had cirrhosis. HBeAg-negative patients were older than HBeAg-positive (35.3 vs. 31.9 years; p = 0.006). The serum ALT level was high in 84.0% HBeAg-positive patients and in 32.8% HBeAg-negative (p < 0.0001). HBV-DNA was detected in 100% of HBeAg-positive patients against 79.7% of HBeAg-negative (p = 0.05). The median HBV-DNA level was 1550 × 103 IU/mL in HBeAg-positive patients and 1140 IU/mL in HBeAg-negative (p < 0.0001). Cirrhosis was diagnosed in 15.4% of HBeAg-positive patients and in 6.1% of HBeAg-negative (p = 0.221). Conclusion: HBeAg-negative cases are predominant among HBsAg-positive patients with chronic HBV infection in Cameroon. With the knowledge of this epidemiology, the care of patients will be improved.

Hepatitis B, Hepatitis B e Antigens, Viral Load, Liver Cirrhosis, Cameroon

Ankouane, F. , Kowo, M. , Njoya, O. and Ndam, E. (2015) High Frequency of HBeAg-Negative Cases in Naive HBsAg-Positive Subjects with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection Managed in the Yaoundé Hepatitis Therapeutic Committee: A Cross Sectional Study. Open Journal of Epidemiology, 5, 113-121. doi: 10.4236/ojepi.2015.52015.