ArticleBMC infectious diseases2017
Hepatitis B virus strains from Rwandan blood donors are genetically similar and form one clade within subgenotype A1.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and socio-demographic factors associated with transfusion transmissible infections among voluntary blood donors in Kigali, Rwanda.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Hepatitis B immune escape and drug resistance mutations among blood donors in Gabon during the year 2022.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030?World journal of gastroenterology · 2021Review
- Prevalence and predictors of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in east Africa: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies published from 2005 to 2020.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2021Article
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- Establishment of an analysis model based on measurement of hepatitis B viral infection serum markers.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRwanda is a central African country with about 12 million inhabitants. The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi destroyed much of the infrastructure, including the health system. Although this has improved significantly, many challenges remain to be addressed. In this study, the prevalence of serological markers of past and ongoing hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and HBV vaccine related immunity was investigated in samples from blood donors from all regions of Rwanda.
methodsThe results from hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) analyses of all (45,061) blood donations collected countrywide in 2014 from 13,637 first time and 31,424 repeat blood donors were compiled. Samples from 581 HBsAg negative blood donors were selected for further analysis for antibodies against HBV, anti-HBs and anti-HBc. Additional 139 samples from HBsAg positive donors were analyzed for HBeAg/anti-HBe (132 samples) and for HBV DNA. The S-gene was amplified by PCR, products sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis was performed.
resultsHBsAg was found in 4.1% of first time donors with somewhat higher prevalence among those from the Central and Eastern regions than from other parts of the country. Indications of past infection was found in 21% of the HBsAg negative donors, 4.3% had only anti-HBs suggesting HBV vaccination. HBeAg was detected in 28 (21%), anti-HBe in 97 (73%), and both HBeAg and anti-HBe in 4 of 132 HBsAg positive donors. HBV DNA was found in 85 samples, and the complete S-gene was sequenced in 58 of those. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences revealed that all HBV strains belonged to subgenotype A1, and formed one clade in the phylogenetic tree. In addition, 12 strains from first time donors had a unique 18 amino acid deletion in the N-terminal part of the pre-S2 region.
conclusionThis study indicated that the prevalence of hepatitis B is intermediate in Rwanda and that the vaccination coverage is relatively low in young adults. All surveyed Rwandan blood donors were infected with similar subgenotype A1 strains, and a high frequency of those with anti-HBe had detectable HBV DNA. Several strains had in addition a unique pre-S2 deletion, the virulence of which needs to be further studied.
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