Identification and Diagnosis of Active and Inactive Hepatitis B Virus among Foreign-Resident Individuals Using Real-Time PCR-Based Assays in Erbil Governorate, Iraq

Background and Objective: Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction's main advantages lie in its high sensitivity and its capacity to develop rapid assays. In regions with high foreign residents, such as Erbil Governorate, effective diagnosis and differentiation of active and inactive HBV infections are of paramount importance for public health management. The present study aims to determine the prevalence of HBV infection among foreign-resident based on Real-time PCR results and providing insights that may have implications for public health strategies. Methods: In this study, a Real-time PCR was used to detect HBV DNA among 193 foreign-resident individuals with hepatitis B. Results: Among the clinically diagnosed individuals at the Erbil public health laboratory, a study encompassed 193 HBsAg-positive foreign-resident individuals, comprising 107 males and 86 females, aged between 23 and 47 years. Among males, 60 (56.74%) of them had HBV DNA of (≥ 3.8 IU/ml), whereas among females, 48 (55.8%) of them exhibited HBV DNA of (≥ 3.8 IU/ml). The study is conducted on foreign-resident individuals from seven different nationalities. The minimum viral load was observed among Chinese (0 IU/ml), while the maximum viral load was recorded among Syrians (2,398,805, 400 IU/ml) according to sample size. The study found that among ELISA-positive individuals, 44.04% were categorized as having inactive HBV infections; in contrast, 55.95% of the individuals were classified as active carriers. Conclusion: Understanding the distribution of HBV infection and their viral loads across different resident nationalities in Erbil governorate is essential for controlling the spread of HBV and tailoring prevention and treatment programs. Detection and quantification of HBV DNA are crucial in diagnosis and monitoring HBV infection and evaluating therapeutic responses.