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Observational Study
. 2022 Apr 7;12(4):e050436.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050436.

Hepatitis B virus infection and factors associated with its acquisition among adults in a Lake Victoria HIV hyperendemic fishing community in Kyotera district, Uganda: a cross-sectional observation

Charles Ssuuna  1 , Victor Ssempijja  2   3 , Sarah Kalibbala  2 , David Serwadda  2   4 , Ping Teresa Yeh  5 , Maria Wawer  6 , Ronald Gray  6 , Larry Chang  6   7 , Joseph Kagaayi  2 , Steven Reynolds  7   8
Affiliations
Observational Study

Hepatitis B virus infection and factors associated with its acquisition among adults in a Lake Victoria HIV hyperendemic fishing community in Kyotera district, Uganda: a cross-sectional observation

Charles Ssuuna et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate hepatitis B virus (HBV) prevalence and factors associated with viral acquisition in a HIV-hyperendemic fishing community, we tested sera for anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).

Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Setting: Large fishing village on Lake Victoria, one of the HIV-hyperendemic Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS) sites (HIV prevalence ~40%).

Participants: Sample of 460 RCCS participants aged 15-49 years from survey conducted from 5 December 2016 to 13 February 2017. These proportionately included HIV-negative, HIV-positive antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve and HIV positive on ART participants.

Results: Of the 460 participants, 49.6% (95% CI 45.0% to 54.1%) had evidence of prior HBV infection and 3.7% (95% CI 2.3% to 5.9%) were either acutely or chronically infected. HBV risk increased with age, number of lifetime sex partners and HIV seropositivity. HBV risk decreased with HIV ART use among HIV-positive participants. Prevalence of prior HBV infection was 17.1% in participants aged 15-19 years, 43.2%, 55.3% and 70.1% in participants aged 20-39, 30-39 and 40-49 years, respectively (p<0.001). Additionally, the prevalence of prior HBV infection was 23.8% in participants with 0-1 lifetime sex partners, 43.2% and 54.8% in participants with 2-3 lifetime sex partners and 4+ lifetime sex partners, respectively (p<0.001).

Conclusions: Findings from this fishing community suggest the need to provide HBV vaccination to adults at risk of sexual transmission who have not been previously immunised.

Keywords: HIV & AIDS; hepatology; sexual medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of hepatitis B virus by number of lifetime sex partners and age group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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