{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T06:22:08Z","timestamp":1791872528442,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,12]],"date-time":"2022-02-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644624000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hepatitis B (HBV) is a major public health threat in Sierra Leone. Pregnant women are disproportionately impacted, yet little is known about the epidemiology of HBV in this group. We conducted a cross-sectional study of pregnant women aged \u226516 years receiving antenatal care across 10 community health centers in Freetown from July to September 2021 to assess the prevalence and associated factors of HBsAg seropositivity. Logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of HBsAg seropositivity. In total, 394 pregnant women were screened. The mean age was 24.4 \u00b1 4.9 years, 78.2% were married, and 47.2% were in the second trimester. Only 1% had received the HBV vaccine. The prevalence of HBsAg was 7.9%, while HIV was 5.8% and HIV\/HBV co-infection was 0.3%. Regarding high-risk practices, 76.6% reported female genital circumcision, 41.9% ear piercing, 29.0% endorsed multiple sexual partners, and 23.6% reported sexually transmitted infections. In the logistic regression analysis, having a husband\/partner with HBV (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 6.54; 95% CI: [1.72\u201324.86]; p = 0.006) and residing in Central Freetown (aOR: 4.00; 95% CI: [1.46\u201311.00]; p = 0.007) were independently associated with HBsAg seropositivity. Our findings support the scaling up of HBV services to target pregnant women and their partners for screening and vaccination to help reduce mother-to-child transmission rates in Sierra Leone.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens11020243","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,13]],"date-time":"2022-02-13T20:34:45Z","timestamp":1644784485000},"page":"243","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Factors Associated with HBsAg Seropositivity among Pregnant Women Receiving Antenatal Care at 10 Community Health Centers in Freetown, Sierra Leone: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9946-9244","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manal","family":"Ghazzawi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"KnowHep Foundation, Freetown, Sierra Leone"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6373-5704","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter B.","family":"James","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia"},{"name":"College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samuel P.","family":"Massaquoi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Sierra Leone"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sahr A.","family":"Yendewa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Sierra Leone"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Robert A.","family":"Salata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA"},{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8474-1812","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"George A.","family":"Yendewa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA"},{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA"},{"name":"Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2022, January 05). 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