A sero-epidemiological population-based cross-sectional study (n = 9486) was carried out during 1996, before the introduction of the universal vaccine program, in two governorates: Béja in the north and Tataouine in the south of Tunisia. The subgroup of HBsAg positives during the first measurement (n = 502) was resampled 3 years later to properly assess the chronic carrier status of this marker. Furthermore, a representative subsample (Dhiba
selleck products and Rogba) of seronegative individuals for all markers (n = 291) was also reassessed 3 years later to evaluate the mean incidence of HBV infection in the study area. The study population included two governorates: Béja in the north and Tataouine in the south. In Béja, three representative villages, one urban (Medjez El Bab Ouest), one sub urban (Khniguet Eddhene) and one rural (Bir Elleuch), were included. In the governorate of Tataouine, all villages covering rural, sub-urban, urban and also villages of Berber origin were included. A random sample representative of each village was selected BMS-907351 molecular weight using a simple two-stage cluster sampling: the first stage is the village; the second stage is the family. All subjects of selected families were asked if they were willing to be enrolled in the study. Table 1
shows the number of individuals sampled per village and the parameters tested in their blood. Data collection was performed by door-to-door visits to all houses within the study area. After oral consent was given, a pre-tested structured questionnaire was administered by trained interviewers to collect three types of information: (i) description of the dwelling (e.g. type of wall, type of roof); (ii) socio-economic description of the family (e.g. number of rooms used by the family, type of water supply, use of electricity, health care accessibility); (iii) information about each family member (e.g. date of birth, isothipendyl gender, family status, education level, behaviours that constitute potential risk factors for HBV infection: traditional circumcision,
tattoo-age, scarification.). Subjects who consented to be enrolled in the study provided a blood sample for serological testing. Sera were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs), and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). All sera were tested for HBsAg and anti-HBc. In order to assess the prevalence of HBV chronic carriage, all HBsAg positive individuals were resampled in 1999, 3 years after the date of the first sample. Sera were tested for HBsAg using commercially available kits for enzyme linked immunosorbant assay-III (hepanostika HBsAg and hepanostika HBc antibody—Biomerieux). Individuals were categorized into two different HBV infection groups: HBV-positive and HBV-negative groups.
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