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Sociodemographic and clinical features related to hepatitis B virus infection among rejected blood donors in Luanda, Angola
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  • Cruz Sebastião,
  • Victor Pimentel,
  • Domingos Jandondo,
  • António Vigário,
  • Pedro Vienga,
  • Joana Sebastião,
  • Anabela Mateus,
  • Felícia Comandante,
  • Euclides N.M. Sacomboio,
  • Eunice Manico,
  • Deodete Machado,
  • Zinga David,
  • Jocelyne Vasconcelos,
  • Joana Morais
Cruz Sebastião
Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Angola (CISA

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Victor Pimentel
Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL
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Domingos Jandondo
Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS
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António Vigário
Instituto Nacional de Sangue (INS
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Pedro Vienga
Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS
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Joana Sebastião
Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS
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Anabela Mateus
Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS
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Felícia Comandante
Instituto Nacional de Sangue (INS
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Euclides N.M. Sacomboio
Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS
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Eunice Manico
Instituto Nacional de Sangue (INS
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Deodete Machado
Instituto Nacional de Sangue (INS
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Zinga David
Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS
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Jocelyne Vasconcelos
Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Angola (CISA
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Joana Morais
Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (INIS
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Abstract

HBV remains a public health concern. Blood donors screened for HBsAg along with AST/ALT could play a key in providing safe blood products. We investigated the features related to HBV infection among rejected blood donors in Luanda, Angola. This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 164 rejected donors. Donors were screened for HBsAg from March to May 2022. Overall, 63.4% tested positive for HBV. Mean age of the HBV-positive (29.2±8.02) was lower than the HBV-negative (33.9±10.0) (p<0.001). Donors between 20–40 years (OR:2.34, p=0.045), females (OR:1.40, p=0.516), residents in urbanized areas (OR:1.23, p=0.530), low educational (OR:1.54, p=0.458), unemployed (OR:1.65, p=0.271), and unmarried (OR:1.41, p=0.616), might be likely to contract HBV. AST/ALT ratio was higher in HBV-infected (2.07±1.42) than in HBV-uninfected (1.90±1.14). About 20% of HBV-positive were classified as having acute liver disease, while 80% with chronic liver disease, based on AST/ALT ratio. Age ranged from 20-40 years (OR:1.97, p=0.305), females (OR:1.61, p=0.557), donors from non-urbanized (OR:1.69, p=0.557), a low educational (OR:1.64, p=0.571), and unemployed donors (OR:1.81, p=0.289) were likely to develop chronic liver disease. Our findings indicated the failure of viral hepatitis control measures. Authorities should consider including HBV nucleic acid testing to ensure early identification of HBV in Angola.