Prevalence and demographic characteristics of occult hepatitis B virus infection in HBsAg-negative patients.

Prevalence and demographic characteristics of occult hepatitis B virus infection in HBsAg-negative patients.</p

Demographic characteristics of the haemodialysis patients.

Demographic characteristics of the haemodialysis patients.</p

HbcAb status of the HBsAg-negative patients.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is endemic in Ghana and chronic kidney disease patients on haemodialysis are a high-risk group for HBV infection. We determined the prevalence of overt and occult HBV infection among haemodialysis patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. 104 consenting End Stage Renal Disease patients on long-term haemodialysis were recruited for the study and their socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory information were obtained using structured questionnaire. All the participants were tested for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The HBsAg-negative participants were re-tested for hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) and HBV DNA using chemiluminescence and Roche COBAS Ampli-Prep/TaqMan analyser and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Eight (7.7%) of the total participants were positive for HBsAg. Among the 96 HBsAg-negative participants, 12.5% (12) were HBcAb-positive, 7.3% (7) had detectable HBV DNA (mean = 98.7±53.5 IU/mL) and 40.6% (39) were positive for HBsAb. Five out of the 7 HBV DNA-positive participants were males and only one participant was negative for HBcAb. Seventy-three out of the 96 HBsAg-negative participants were vaccinated and 37 of these vaccinated individuals had significant HBsAb titres (mean = 423.21± 380.72 IU/mL). Our data demonstrated that the prevalence of overt and occult HBV infection among the haemodialysis (HD) patients was 7.7% and 7.3%, respectively, and only 50.7% of those who showed proof of vaccination were protected from HBV infection.</div

Predictors of occult hepatitis B virus infection.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is endemic in Ghana and chronic kidney disease patients on haemodialysis are a high-risk group for HBV infection. We determined the prevalence of overt and occult HBV infection among haemodialysis patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. 104 consenting End Stage Renal Disease patients on long-term haemodialysis were recruited for the study and their socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory information were obtained using structured questionnaire. All the participants were tested for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The HBsAg-negative participants were re-tested for hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) and HBV DNA using chemiluminescence and Roche COBAS Ampli-Prep/TaqMan analyser and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Eight (7.7%) of the total participants were positive for HBsAg. Among the 96 HBsAg-negative participants, 12.5% (12) were HBcAb-positive, 7.3% (7) had detectable HBV DNA (mean = 98.7±53.5 IU/mL) and 40.6% (39) were positive for HBsAb. Five out of the 7 HBV DNA-positive participants were males and only one participant was negative for HBcAb. Seventy-three out of the 96 HBsAg-negative participants were vaccinated and 37 of these vaccinated individuals had significant HBsAb titres (mean = 423.21± 380.72 IU/mL). Our data demonstrated that the prevalence of overt and occult HBV infection among the haemodialysis (HD) patients was 7.7% and 7.3%, respectively, and only 50.7% of those who showed proof of vaccination were protected from HBV infection.</div

Characteristics of the HBsAg-negative OBI patients.

Characteristics of the HBsAg-negative OBI patients.</p

HBsAb immunity status of the HBsAg-negative patients.

HBsAb immunity status of the HBsAg-negative patients.</p

S1 File -

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is endemic in Ghana and chronic kidney disease patients on haemodialysis are a high-risk group for HBV infection. We determined the prevalence of overt and occult HBV infection among haemodialysis patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. 104 consenting End Stage Renal Disease patients on long-term haemodialysis were recruited for the study and their socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory information were obtained using structured questionnaire. All the participants were tested for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The HBsAg-negative participants were re-tested for hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) and HBV DNA using chemiluminescence and Roche COBAS Ampli-Prep/TaqMan analyser and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Eight (7.7%) of the total participants were positive for HBsAg. Among the 96 HBsAg-negative participants, 12.5% (12) were HBcAb-positive, 7.3% (7) had detectable HBV DNA (mean = 98.7±53.5 IU/mL) and 40.6% (39) were positive for HBsAb. Five out of the 7 HBV DNA-positive participants were males and only one participant was negative for HBcAb. Seventy-three out of the 96 HBsAg-negative participants were vaccinated and 37 of these vaccinated individuals had significant HBsAb titres (mean = 423.21± 380.72 IU/mL). Our data demonstrated that the prevalence of overt and occult HBV infection among the haemodialysis (HD) patients was 7.7% and 7.3%, respectively, and only 50.7% of those who showed proof of vaccination were protected from HBV infection.</div

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the HBsAg-negative participants.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the HBsAg-negative participants.</p

Additional file 2 of Probing SARS-CoV-2-positive plasma to identify potential factors correlating with mild COVID-19 in Ghana, West Africa

Additional file 2. Change on cytokine concentration levels over time in COVID-19 positive individuals. The cytokine concentration levels analysed from plasma of COVID-19 asymptomatic (n = 3), monthly for four months. The quantity of the cytokines for each sampling month is shown by the line graph

Additional file 4 of Probing SARS-CoV-2-positive plasma to identify potential factors correlating with mild COVID-19 in Ghana, West Africa

Additional file 4. Cytokine concentration levels in COVID-19 patients. Comparison of cytokine concentration levels between COVID-19 symptomatic, asymptomatic patients, pre-COVID-19 health participants, COVID-19 pandemic health individuals and COVID-19 non-survivors. The cytokine concentration levels were measured from plasma of COVID-19 symptomatic (n = 29) and asymptomatic (n = 29), individuals, pre-COVID-19 health participants (100), COVID-19 pandemic health individuals (33) and COVID-19 non-survivors (2). The median quantity of the cytokines is shown by a horizontal line across the scatter plot while the lower and upper dotted lines represent the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively. Statistical significance between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients were determined by a Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s post hoc. (*: p 0.05)