ISSN: 2577-4379
Authors: Sahr Hagmohamed SA1*, Isam ME3, M El Hussein AR2 and Khalid AE2
Introduction: Occult HBV infection (OBI) is the persistence of viral genome in the liver tissue in individuals negative for HBsAg. Hemodialysis patients are at risk of acquiring parenterally transmitted infections such as HBV, OBI, because of the large number blood transfusions they receive, invasive procedures they undergo, shared dialysis equipment, impaired host immune response, and lower response rates to HBV vaccination. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study conducted at three health centers in the Northern State, Sudan. Following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, ninety haemodialysis patients were enrolled. Antigen capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), competitive ELISA to detect Hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) antibodies and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA were used in this investigation. Results: out of the 90 patients sampled, 51 were males, 39 were females, and their ages ranged between 18 and 80 years. Two of patients (2/90; 2.2 %) were positive for HBsAg and were subsequently excluded from the study while (88/90; 97.8%) were negative for HBsAg. Out of these17 (19.4%) showed positive HBcAb of which 14(82.3%) tested positive to HBV DNA. It is recommended that in order to prevent HBV transmission among haemodialysis patients in Sudan,molecular detection techniques must be considered in detecting occult HBV in these patients.
Keywords: Occult Hepatitis B virus; Hemodialysis Patients; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Northern State; Sudan
