Epidemiological Characteristics of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Ardabil Province: An Analysis of Hepatitis B Surveillance Database (2014-2018)

Hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection is one of the most important public health concerns. The present study was conducted to provide a descriptive analysis of detected HBV infection in Ardabil province.

In this retrospective longitudinal study, the hepatitis B surveillance database of Ardabil province was examined from 2014 to 2018. The frequency of hepatitis B virus infections was presented based on age, gender, marital status, place of residence, primary symptoms, and reporting sources. Also, the trend of changes in the number of detected cases over time was investigated using time series analysis.

A total of 817 positive cases with a mean age of 43.1 years were reported. Most of them were male [n=503, 61.5]. The Frequency of identified positive cases decreased over time. Most of the infections were asymptomatic [87.5%]. Almost 90.0% of patients with HBV were married and the majority of the identified patients were resided in urban settings [n=598, 73.2%]. Most diagnostic tests were done voluntarily [n=219, 26.8%] or during prenatal care [n=109, 13.3%]. Most cases were identified and reported by the health network [n=292, 35.7%] and blood transfusion organization [n=190, 23.2%].

Decision-makers of the health sector of the province can use this information as a source for evidence-based decision-making in the effective management of the disease.