Viral hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infections are endemic in Africa. According to seroprevalence studies, HBV is found in roughly 8% of individuals, while HCV is found in more than 1% of individuals in the general population. HBV and HCV infections are more likely to occur in children with sickle cell disease because of the need for multiple blood transfusions. This pilot study was intended to evaluate the frequency of HBsAg and antibodies against HCV in sickle cell patients at CHU Amissa Bongo of Franceville. Blood samples were collected for this study from March 15 to May 27, 2022. The non-governmental organization NGO SCDOGa conducted the pilot study in collaboration with the Amissa Bongo CHU for patient recruitment and the detection of HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, Mini VIDAS). The Mixed Research Unit between the CIRMF and UMR CIRMF-SSM, performed PCR among RDT reactive samples. Up to 41 children with sickle cell disease, aged between 1 and 16 years, were recruited for the study. Among the participants, none were found to be carriers of HBsAg. Regarding anti-HCV antibodies, 2 out of 41 children tested positive on the rapid diagnostic test, representing a prevalence of 4.878%. Of these two, only one was confirmed positive via Nested PCR. The data indicated that the number of blood transfusions equal to or greater than three was associated with the transmission of HCV. In conclusion, this study found no carriers of HBsAg among children with sickle cell disease. However, a low prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was observed, with half of the positive cases exhibiting a replicative infection.
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