TITLE:
Frequency of Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen (HBsAg) Positivity in a Rural Population of Burkina Faso
AUTHORS:
Mafama Siribié, Yacouba Sourabié, Adama Kaboré, Aristide Ouattara, Réné Kinda, Aboubacar Sanou, Hanmoussa Theguera, Gertrude Marilyse Sawadogo, Adrien Marie Gaston Belem
KEYWORDS:
Hepatitis B, HBsAg, Prevalence, Rural Population, Burkina Faso
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Immunology,
Vol.16 No.3,
September
16,
2026
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso. However, data on HBV prevalence in rural populations remain scarce. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriage and to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of infected individuals in the rural commune of Moussodougou, Burkina Faso. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from April to June 2021 in four villages of the rural commune of Moussodougou, located in the Cascades region of Burkina Faso. Participants were recruited on a voluntary basis following community sensitization sessions and pre-test counseling. Blood samples were analyzed at the Immunology Laboratory of the National Centre for Malaria Research and Training (CNRFP) in Banfora. Qualitative detection of HBsAg was performed using the Alere Determine™ HBsAg rapid diagnostic test. Data were analyzed using the R software version 4.5.1 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Results: A total of 770 participants were enrolled, including 469 women (60.9%) and 301 men (39.1%), yielding a male-to-female ratio of 0.64. The mean age of the participants was 33.6 years ± 18.2 years. Sixty-seven participants tested positive for HBsAg, corresponding to an overall prevalence of 8.7% among participants who had received community-based hepatitis B awareness and counseling. HBsAg prevalence was significantly higher among men than among women (12.96% vs. 5.97%). The highest prevalence was observed among participants aged [20 - 30[ years (15.2%). Across the four villages, prevalence ranged from 6.1% to 9.7%. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBsAg carriage in the rural commune of Moussodougou remains high and confirms that the area falls within the WHO high-endemicity category for HBV infection. Variations according to sex, age group, and village of residence were observed. Further studies are needed to investigate factors associated with HBV infection in rural settings.