Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 26;9(1):13948. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50173-5.
Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Shenzhen, China, 2015-2018.
Tao J1, Zhang W2, Yue H2, Zhu G3, Wu W2, Gong W2, Fang H2, He G2, Hu X2, Zhao H2, Liu A2.
Author information
1
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Second Clinical Medical College of Ji'nan University, 1017 Dongmenbei Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518020, China. [email protected].
2
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Second Clinical Medical College of Ji'nan University, 1017 Dongmenbei Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518020, China.
3
School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4067, Australia.
Abstract
China has nearly 10% of the general HBV carrier population in the world; this infection is the most common cause of chronic liver disease. Understanding HBV epidemiology is essential for future infection control, evaluation, and treatment. This study determined the prevalence of HBV infection in Shenzhen by serological testing and analysis in 282,166 HBV screening cases for the following: HBcAb, indicative of previous HBV infection; HBsAg, indicative of chronic (current) infection; HBsAb, indicative of immunity from vaccination; and 34,368 HBV etiological screening cases for HBV-DNA, indicative of virus carriage, in which 1,204 cases were genotyped and mutation analyzed for drug-resistance evaluation. Shenzhen was a highly endemic area of HBV throughout the study period (prevalence 9.69%). HBV infections were almost entirely in the 20 and older age groups with a male-to-female ratio of 1.16:1 which is approximately the same as the male-to-female ratio of the general population in China. However, only 71.25% of the general population retained HBV immune protection. Genotype B and C were identified as the most common agents; recombinant B/C and B/D also existed; some cases, however, could not be genotyped. NAs resistant mutation occurrence patterns were multitudinous; single mutation patterns of rtM204I/V and rtL180M occurrences accounted for majority, followed by the combinational mutation pattern L180M + M204I/V. Drug-resistance was prevalent, mainly occurring in the cross resistance patterns LAM + LdT and LAM + LdT + ETV, and significantly more critical in males. These results demonstrate that all people free from HBV infection should obtain injections of the vaccine or booster shots, and conventional virologic detection in a clinical laboratory center should incorporate genotype and mutation alongside the serological factors for etiology and develop better classification methods, such as sequencing.