Seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus antigen in patients with chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma at 12(th) week of treatment: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: epidemiological data suggests that more than 50% of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients fail treatment. The objective of the study was to highlight the seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus antigen (HCV Ag) at the 12(th) week of treatment. METHODS: during a cross-sectional study, participants with chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were recruited between December 2020 and March 2022 at the Yaoundé General Hospital (HGY) and the University Teaching Hospital of Yaounde (UTHY). Five millilitres of blood samples were taken from each consenting participant and then a qualitative search for HCV Ag by Enzyme-Linked Immuno Assay (ELISA) was performed. Analysis of the results was performed using SPSS Version 25.0 software. RESULTS: out of the 192 participants selected for the study, only 92 (47,9%) participants were at 12 weeks of treatment, including 69 (75%) participants positive for the hepatitis C virus antibody (HCV Ab) by RDT. Of these participants, 44 (47.8%) participants were positive for HCV Ag by ELISA, respectively 19/37 (51.3%), 14/19 (73.6%), 11/13 (84.6%) with chronic hepatitis (HC), Cirrhosis, and HCC (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: our results showed a high prevalence of HCV Ag in patients at their 12(th) week of treatment which predicts treatment failure and calls for public policy to develop new management strategies to prevent HCV treatment failure in our context.