Seroprevalence of Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus among patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the Yaounde General Hospital, Cameroon

The non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) are a diverse group of malignancies that originate in lymphoid cells, heterogeneous in clinical behavior, morphology, cellular origin, etiology, and pathogenesis. A viral infectious etiology had been associated with them. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among patients with NHL at the Yaoundé General Hospital (YGH). Participants for this cross-sectional study were recruited at the medical oncology unit from October 2018 to December 2019. For each patient fulfilling the inclusion criteria, five milliliters of blood were drawn at the crook of their elbows in EDTA tubes. Then, EBV, HIV, HBV, and HVC screening were done using the Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs); Bio-Rad EBV, Alere Determine HIV-1/HIV-2, HBV the best diagnostic and HVC Wondfo biotech respectively. Participants were made up of sixty-three males (69.23%) and twenty-eight females (30.77%). Their ages ranged from nineteen to seventy-eight years, with a mean ± SD of 56.5 ± 15.5. There were eight HIV patients (8.8%) followed by five EBV or HBV patients (5.5%). Three patients were coinfected with HIV+EBV (3.3%) while only two patients (2.2%) had HCV. Only HIV and EBV were seen coinfected. The presence of HBV and HCV in patients with NHL reveals the need to understand how these viruses induce lymphoproliferative diseases, more precisely, the non-Hodgkin´s lymphoma.