Evaluation of inflammatory and liver injury biomarkers among drug-naive viral hepatitis B patients: A study in a referral laboratory, Ghana

Background and Aim: Globally, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is among the commonest chronic infections and the leading cause of liver cancer. This study evaluated inflammatory and liver injury biomarkers among newlydiagnosed HBV-infected patients to reveal inflammation and liver injury levels. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was conducted among 146 newly diagnosed drug-naive patients and 64 blood donors. Questionnaires were administered to obtain demographic data. Blood samples were collected to assess viral serological markers, inflammatory markers, liver function, and hematological indices. Also, noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis (APRI: aspartate transaminase - platelet ratio index, FIB-4: fibrosis 4 index, and AAR: aspartate - alanine transaminase ratio) were mathematically derived. The patients were categorized into acute and chronic infections based on their viral serological markers. Results: Overall, 81.5% of the patients had an acute HBV infection, whereas 18.5% had a chronic HBV infection. There was a significant increase in the biomarkers of inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6, and liver injury (liver transaminases, FIB-4 index, and APRI) among the drug-naive chronic HBV-infected patients. The study also revealed significant anemia and leucocytosis in patients with chronic HBV infection. Further, the study showed a strong correlation between CRP and alanine transaminase among patients with chronic HBV infection. Conclusion: There was increased anemia, inflammation, and liver fibrosis among the drug-naive chronic HBVinfected patients; hence, public education is required so patients with viral hepatitis B in Ghana would visit the clinic earlier enough for proper clinical management.

Molecular detection of enterovirus D68 among children with acute respiratory tract infection in Ghana

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections of viral origin remain a leading cause of morbidity, mortality and economic loss regardless of age or gender. A small number of acute respiratory tract infection cases caused by enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) have been reported regularly to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 1987 by countries in North America, Europe and Asia. However, in 2014 and 2015, the number of reported confirmed EV-D68 infections was much greater than in previous years. The National Influenza Centre (NIC), Ghana carries out surveillance of respiratory infections, focusing on those caused by influenza virus; however, there is inadequate information on other viruses causing respiratory infections in Ghana, including EV-D68.Objectives: To investigate the association of EV-D68 with Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) and Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) in Ghana.Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study which involved archived human respiratory specimens stored at ­80 °C at the NIC from 2014 to 2015. Using a random sampling method, oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs from patients with SARI and ILI that were negative by real-time PCR for human influenza viruses were screened for EV-D68 using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR).Results: Enterovirus D68 was detected in 4 (2.2%) out of 182 SARI samples tested. EV-D68 was detected in children younger than 5 years (4 ­ 100% of positives) and was not detected in children older than 5 years. Enterovirus D68 was detected more frequently in SARI cases (3%) than in ILI cases (1.2%).Conclusion: This study has shown for the first time the presence of EV-D68 in acute respiratory infections in Ghana. The results confirmed minimal EV-D68 circulation in the Ghanaian population

Behavioural Practices Associated with Occurrence of HIV among University Students in Ghana.

Background: Achieving zero HIV infection would require the thorough understanding of the prevalence of HIV and high risk behaviours among most-at-risk groups such as student populations in order to determine what interventional measures would be most appropriate to use. This study was, therefore, undertaken to determine Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) students’ HIV sero-status in order to know their HIV prevalence in relation to their attitude, perception and knowledge of HIV/AIDS, their knowledge of sex and sexuality as well as their understanding of HIV-related stigmatization. This was to enable the development of specific effective and targeted HIV-prevention interventional programme aimed at preventing HIV infection among the KNUST student population. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). We structurally surveyed some of the students’ knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS, sex and sexuality and HIV-related stigmatization and their HIV prevalent rate through a 48-item questionnaire administration and HIV antibody testing. HIV antibody status was determined by the serological testing for HIV antibodies in their blood using Abbott Determine HIV 1/2 kit for first line screening and OraQuick HIV 1 & 2 kit for the confirmatory testing. Results: Results obtained revealed that the students of KNUST surveyed had adequate knowledge about HIV transmission and its associated risk factors though they actively engaged in HIV transmission risky behaviours such as premarital sex and sex with multiple and/or casual partners. This notwithstanding, all the 754 students who participated in this study as well as the 4,085 student population who underwent HIV testing all tested negative. Conclusion: The observation that the HIV prevalent rate among the students studied is zero could be that those students may be those, who as a result of their lifestyle, were confident that their HIV status would be negative. This observation, notwithstanding the HIV transmission risky behaviours that the students studied may be engaging in, may be due to the higher education these students may be getting.