Prevalence of Hepatitis A Virus, Hepatitis B Virus, and Hepatitis C Virus, among Patients with Hepatic Jaundice in Sana'a City, Yemen: A Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Background: Hepatic jaundice results from abnormal metabolism of bilirubin in the liver. The main hepatic jaundice causes are severe damage to hepatocytes due to autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, drugs/ medication induced, or, less commonly, hereditary genetic diseases.

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B Virus (HBV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), in patients with hepatic jaundice as causes of acute viral hepatitis (AVH) in Sana'a city, Yemen.

Subjects and Methods: Data of patients with hepatic jaundice tested for hepatitis B surface antigen, total anti-HCV antibody, and anti-HAV immunoglobulin M (IgM) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were collected from Class I Viral Diagnostic Laboratories in Sana'a for 3 years. Then the statistical analysis of the data was used where the descriptive analysis was calculated: frequency and percentage, as well as the association of infection with sex and age group by means of detection odds ratio, 95% CI and X2 more than 3.9 and P<0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: The study included 644 males (43.8%) and 826 females (56.2%), while most patients were less than 21 years old. The rate of Hepatitis viruses positive was 27.6% positive. Hepatitis A virus infection was the most common virus diagnosed accounting for 259 cases (17.6% of the total), while HBV was less common with 104 (7.1%) and HCV only 42 cases (2.9%). The highest incidence of hepatitis B was in 11-20 years patients (18.2%), with an associated OR 9.3 (p < 0.0001). The highest incidence of hepatitis C was in 31-40 years patients (7.3%), with an associated OR 3.3 (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Alarmingly changing the epidemiology and dynamics of hepatitis A-C viruses in Yemen, a detailed study is required to understand the definite disease problem caused by these viruses. It is noticeable in this study the high prevalence of hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus in the Yemeni population with hepatic jaundice. Also, to our knowledge, this study is the first to report epidemiological transformation of hepatitis A virus in Sana'a, Yemen.