Sociodemographic and clinical features related to hepatitis B virus infection among rejected blood donors in Luanda, Angola

HBV remains a public health concern. Blood donors screened for HBsAg along with AST/ALT could play a key in providing safe blood products. We investigated the features related to HBV infection among rejected blood donors in Luanda, Angola. This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 164 rejected donors. Donors were screened for HBsAg from March to May 2022. Overall, 63.4% tested positive for HBV. Mean age of the HBV-positive (29.2±8.02) was lower than the HBV-negative (33.9±10.0) (p<0.001). Donors between 20–40 years (OR:2.34, p=0.045), females (OR:1.40, p=0.516), residents in urbanized areas (OR:1.23, p=0.530), low educational (OR:1.54, p=0.458), unemployed (OR:1.65, p=0.271), and unmarried (OR:1.41, p=0.616), might be likely to contract HBV. AST/ALT ratio was higher in HBV-infected (2.07±1.42) than in HBV-uninfected (1.90±1.14). About 20% of HBV-positive were classified as having acute liver disease, while 80% with chronic liver disease, based on AST/ALT ratio. Age ranged from 20-40 years (OR:1.97, p=0.305), females (OR:1.61, p=0.557), donors from non-urbanized (OR:1.69, p=0.557), a low educational (OR:1.64, p=0.571), and unemployed donors (OR:1.81, p=0.289) were likely to develop chronic liver disease. Our findings indicated the failure of viral hepatitis control measures. Authorities should consider including HBV nucleic acid testing to ensure early identification of HBV in Angola.