Kanda T, Sasaki-Tanaka R, Tsuchiya A, Terai S. Hepatitis B virus infection and its treatment in Eastern Ethiopia. World J Hepatol 2025; 17(1): 99209 [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i1.99209]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Tatsuo Kanda, MD, PhD, Professor, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Uonuma Institute of Community Medicine, Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital, 4132 Urasa, Minamiuonuma 949-7302, Niigata, Japan. kandatatsuo@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Tatsuo Kanda, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Uonuma Institute of Community Medicine, Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital, Minamiuonuma 949-7302, Niigata, Japan
Tatsuo Kanda, Reina Sasaki-Tanaka, Atsunori Tsuchiya, Shuji Terai, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata 951-8520, Japan
Author contributions: Kanda T and Sasaki-Tanaka R designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript, and wrote the paper; Kanda T, Sasaki-Tanaka R, Tsuchiya A, and Terai S contributed critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tatsuo Kanda, MD, PhD, Professor, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Uonuma Institute of Community Medicine, Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital, 4132 Urasa, Minamiuonuma 949-7302, Niigata, Japan. kandatatsuo@gmail.com
Received: July 17, 2024 Revised: November 21, 2024 Accepted: December 17, 2024 Published online: January 27, 2025 Processing time: 172 Days and 23.5 Hours
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection causes acute and chronic hepatitis, compensated and decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. The actual status of HBV infection and its treatment in certain regions of Asian and African countries, including Ethiopia, has not been well-documented thus far. Antiviral therapy for HBV infection can prevent the progression of HBV-related liver diseases and decrease the HBV-related symptoms, such as abdominal symptoms, fatigue, systemic symptoms and others. In Eastern Ethiopia, HBV-infected patients with cirrhosis were found to be positive for the HBV e antigen and to have a higher viral load than those without cirrhosis. Notably, 54.4% of patients practiced khat chewing and 18.1% consumed excessive amounts of alcohol. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate effectively suppressed HBV DNA in those infected with HBV. It is important to elucidate the actual status of HBV infection in Eastern Ethiopia to eliminate HBV infection worldwide by 2030. HBV vaccination and the educational programs for Health Science students that provide practical strategies could help to reduce HBV infection in Eastern Ethiopia.
Core Tip: To eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection worldwide by 2030, it is important to determine the actual status of HBV infection in Ethiopia, whose population was estimated 12300000 persons in 2022. At least 10.5% of blood samples from patients in Ethiopia were positive for the HBV surface antigen. In Eastern Ethiopia, HBV surface antigen-positive patients with cirrhosis appeared to be HBV e antigen-positive and had a higher viral load. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate is effective for the suppression of HBV DNA in these patients. HBV vaccination and the educational programs for Health Science students that provide practical strategies could also reduce HBV infection in Eastern Ethiopia.
