title: High Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in the Age Range of 20-39 Years Old Individuals in Lome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It affects all women and men irrespective of age. Although sub-Saharan Africa is an area of high prevalence of this disease, data on the prevalence of acute and chronic HBV infections in this region remain to be widely documented.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HBV in relation to age in Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Campus (CHU-C), one of the two teaching hospitals of Lome, Togo.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study is a cross-sectional study about the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriage from 2009 to 2011. All study participants were screened for HBsAg at the Immunology laboratory of CHU Campus of Lome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One thousand two hundred individuals were screened for HBsAg from 2009-2011. The overall prevalence of HBV infection was 19.08%. This prevalence was significantly higher in men (25.00%) than women (14.80%). The highest prevalence of HBV was observed in age range of 20-29 years and 30-39 years with respectively 26.33% and 21.67%. The lowest prevalence was 6.08%, found in people over 50 years. Concerning the clinical indication of the test, the prevalence during the clinical abnormalities related to liver (CARL) was the highest (26.21%), followed by the systematic screening (SS) with 20.25% while the pre-operative assessment (POA) showed the lowest prevalence with 5.56%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study shows the high prevalence of HBsAg carriage in young people. This could be used to enhance prevention and treatment of HBV infection in Togo.
authors.affiliation: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Campus, Lome, Togo; Faculte des Sciences de la Santé (FSS), Universite de Lome, Togo.
authors.forename: Malewe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kolou
authors.affiliation: Ecole Superieure des Techniques Biologiques et Alimentaires (ESTBA), Universite de Lome, Togo.
authors.forename: Gnatoulma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Katawa
authors.affiliation: Faculte des Sciences de la Santé (FSS), Universite de Lome, Togo.
authors.forename: Mounerou
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salou
authors.affiliation: Ecole Superieure des Techniques Biologiques et Alimentaires (ESTBA), Universite de Lome, Togo.
authors.forename: Komlan Selom
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Gozo-Akakpo
authors.affiliation: Faculte des Sciences de la Santé (FSS), Universite de Lome, Togo.
authors.forename: Sika
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dossim
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology (IMMIP), University Hospital of Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kwarteng
authors.affiliation: Faculte des Sciences de la Santé (FSS), Universite de Lome, Togo.
authors.forename: Mireille
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prince-David
keywords: Age range; HBs antigen; Hepatitis B virus; Prevalence; Togo