Determinants of Hepatitis D in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends and Challenges (Systematic Review)

Abstract

Hepatitis D, also referred to as hepatitis D virus, or hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is considered to be a subviral satellite because it can propagate only in the presence of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) (WHO, 2020). There are uncertainties about the epidemic patterns of HDV infection and its contribution to the burden of liver disease. Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective virus that completes its life cycle only with hepatitis B virus (HBV). The HBV with HDV super-infection has been considered as one of the most severe forms of the chronic viral hepatitis (Chen et al, 2019). However, there is a scarcity of data on the Sub-Saharan Africa burden of HDV infection. We estimated the Determinants of Hepatitis D in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends and Challenges.