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. 2018 Sep 25;15(1):148.
doi: 10.1186/s12985-018-1060-1.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of HIV, HBV and HCV infection prevalence in Sudan

M M Badawi  1 , M S Atif  2 , Y Y Mustafa  2
Affiliations

Systematic review and meta-analysis of HIV, HBV and HCV infection prevalence in Sudan

M M Badawi et al. Virol J. .

Abstract

Viral hepatitis constitutes a global health problem; previous studies have affirmed a considerable morbidity and mortality from both acute infections and chronic complications. On the other hand, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is also of known burden. Determining prevalence measures of these viruses is crucial for establishing appropriate country specific strategies regarding prevention, diagnosis, and containment. This systematic review was aimed to provide pooled seroprevalence estimates of the three viruses in Sudan. Structured review of the literature was conducted to obtain relevant studies published in both national and international databases. After assessment of quality and bias in all proposed studies, 57 prevalence studies were included. Meta-analysis was conducted for all studies and subgroup analysis was also approached. The total sample size of participants in included studies providing HIV antibodies prevalence was 15,479. Based on information retrieved from these studies, HIV prevalence ranged from 0 to 18.3% among different study populations. However, pooled prevalence estimate for HIV antibodies was 1%. Kassala, Eastern Sudan was the most endemic State (4.18%). The HBV reported seroprevalence rates ranged from 5.1 up to 26.81% among different populations and the overall pooled prevalence was 12.07%. For HCV antibodies; 2.74% was determined to be the pooled prevalence. Khartoum State was the most endemic State of both HBV and HCV with seroprevalence of 12.69% and 6.78%, respectively.Based on data reviewed and synthesized; there is no evidence for an HIV endemic in the general population of Sudan. However, both HBV and HCV seroprevalence rates are indicating otherwise. Reducing the overall burden of HIV, HBV and HCV infections will require new measures and national strategies and the recognition of the infections as one of the country's priority issues.

Keywords: Africa; Developing countries; Epidemiology; Middle East; Viral infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Literature search and selection of studies (PRISMA flow diagram)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
National prevalence of HIV antibodies and prevalence among blood donors from studies included in the review
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
National prevalence of HBsAg and prevalence among whole population from studies included in the review
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
National prevalence of HCV antibodies and prevalence among blood donors from studies included in the review
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Prevalence of HIV antibodies in all corresponding States of Sudan from studies included in the review. Map only has information in States where included studies are conducted; all States where no included studies are available were shaded gray
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Prevalence of HBsAg seropositivity in all corresponding States of Sudan from studies included in the review. Map only has information in States where included studies are conducted; all States where no included studies are available were shaded gray
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Prevalence of HCV antibodies in all corresponding States of Sudan from studies included in the review. Map only has information in States where included studies are conducted; all States where no included studies are available were shaded gray
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Prevalence rates of the three infections according to publication period of all studies included in the review. Data was plotted as line graphs, when there is no published study in a given year; the line predicts the direction to be in accordance to the next year with published study/ies and get disrupted to indicate a missing data
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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