A Retrospective Study on Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen (HbsAg) among Healthy Individuals Attending a Tertiary Care Clinic in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious public health problem in developed and developing country including Bangladesh. Hepatitis is characterized by high rate of viral persistence and potential to develop and of ever worsening chronic liver disease ranging from chronic hepatitis and occasionally hepatocellular carcinoma. About 350 to 400 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B in the world. This is a retrospective study carried out at Marks Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period 1st January to 31st December 2012, among healthy individuals who attended for clinical checkup. 3971 patients attended for medical checkup during this period. Among them, 194 patients were found to be HBsAg positive which is 4.9% of the study population. HBsAg was more prevalent in males (5.14%) than females (4.10%). HBsAg was also more prevalent in married persons (8.32%) than unmarried persons (3.19%). No such correlation was found with occupation and pregnancy status. Analysis of risk factors among the individuals indicate that multiple sex partner, unsafe injection, circumcision and tooth extraction may be potential source of infection of these healthy HBsAg positive persons. These results stress the importance of extensive screening programs along with survey of risk factors to determine the source of infections of hepatitis B virus in healthy populations. Determination of appropriate risk factors may help to undertake appropriate preventive strategy to reduce HBV infection in Bangladesh.