{"doi":"10.1016/j.ijregi.2023.08.006","title":"Impact of COVID-19 on hepatitis B screening in Sierra Leone: insights from a community pharmacy model of care","abstract":"There are limited studies evaluating the impact of COVID-19-related interruptions on hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening in endemic countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a retrospective study of HBV testing in a community pharmacy in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2022. We compared participant characteristics using Pearson's chi-square test. We evaluated trends in HBV screening and diagnosis using one-way ANOVA with Tukey's or Dunnett's post-test. Of 920 individuals screened, 161 had detectable HBsAg (seroprevalence 17.5% [95% CI 14.9-20.4]). There was a 100% decrease in HBV screening during January-June of 2020; however, screening increased by 27% and 23% in the first and second year after COVID-19, respectively. Mean quarterly tests showed a significant upward trend: 55 ± 6 tests during January-March (baseline), 74 ± 16 tests during April-June, 101 ± 3 tests during July-September, and 107 ± 17 tests during October-December (one-way ANOVA test for trend, F=7.7, p = 0.0254) but not the mean quarterly number of people diagnosed with HBV (F = 0.34, p = 0.7992). Community-based HBV screening dramatically improved following temporary disruptions related to COVID-19. Seasonal variation in HBV screening, but not HBV diagnosis, may have implications for HBV elimination efforts in Sierra Leone and other West African countries.","journal":"IJID Regions","year":2023,"id":383600,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9547,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":991192,"name":"Lawrence S. Babawo","orcid":"0000-0002-9292-3325","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":234611,"name":"Amir M. Mohareb","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":991191,"name":"Peter James","orcid":"0000-0002-6373-5704","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":991593,"name":"Sahr A. Yendewa","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":991592,"name":"Samuel P. Massaquoi","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1088398,"name":"Peterlyn E. Cummings","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":658036,"name":"Sulaiman Lakoh","orcid":"0000-0002-7639-0004","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":281106,"name":"Robert A. Salata","orcid":"0000-0001-8464-0918","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":691108,"name":"George A. Yendewa","orcid":"0000-0002-8474-1812","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1087901,"name":"Manal Ghazzawi","orcid":"0000-0001-9946-9244","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":31,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:17:29.050285Z","pmid":"37711649","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}