Title: Prevalence of sero-markers and non-invasive assessment of liver cirrhosis in patients with
Hepatitis B virus infection in Freetown, Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional study
Version: 2 Date: 21 Apr 2021
Reviewer's report:
The authors discussed the situation of HBV in Sierra Leone. They made an overview of HBV
clinical presentation, laboratory changes and non invasive fibrosis markers. the manuscript is
well written however there are few comments on the manuscript
1- The manuscript lacks novelty and it's results didn't add new to the existing knowledge.
2- Number of patients is low in a country with high prevalence of HBV
3- Many data are missing such as US data which is mandatory for assessment of any HBV patient
and it may change the overall picture of patients.
4. AFP Data are missing which is important in HBV assessment
4- Additional comments in the manuscript
A. Methodology: Kindly add a reference to the following sentence "patients were assessed in
accordance with the recommendations of the Sierra Leone National Treatment Guidelines for
Viral Hepatitis B and C"
B. Describe in details "comprehensive metabolic panel"
C. It's recommended to use the new terminology of HBV stages instead of  immune
clearance phase, immune tolerant phase,  etc...  (https://www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/
S0168-8278(17)30185-X/fulltext)
D. Results numbers and percentage needs be unified in presentation (n, %)
Title: Prevalence of sero-markers and non-invasive assessment of liver cirrhosis in patients with
Hepatitis B virus infection in Freetown, Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional study
Version: 2 Date: 21 Apr 2021
Reviewer's report:
The authors discussed the situation of HBV in Sierra Leone. They made an overview of HBV
clinical presentation, laboratory changes and non invasive fibrosis markers. the manuscript is
well written however there are few comments on the manuscript
1- The manuscript lacks novelty and it's results didn't add new to the existing knowledge.
2- Number of patients is low in a country with high prevalence of HBV
3- Many data are missing such as US data which is mandatory for assessment of any HBV patient
and it may change the overall picture of patients.
4. AFP Data are missing which is important in HBV assessment
4- Additional comments in the manuscript
A. Methodology: Kindly add a reference to the following sentence "patients were assessed in
accordance with the recommendations of the Sierra Leone National Treatment Guidelines for
Viral Hepatitis B and C"
B. Describe in details "comprehensive metabolic panel"
C. It's recommended to use the new terminology of HBV stages instead of  immune
clearance phase, immune tolerant phase,  etc...  (https://www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/
S0168-8278(17)30185-X/fulltext)
D. Results numbers and percentage needs be unified in presentation (n, %)
Please review this paper.
user
Title: Prevalence of sero-markers and non-invasive assessment of liver cirrhosis in patients with
Hepatitis B virus infection in Freetown, Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional study
Version: 2 Date: 21 Apr 2021
Reviewer's report:
The authors discussed the situation of HBV in Sierra Leone. They made an overview of HBV
clinical presentation, laboratory changes and non invasive fibrosis markers. the manuscript is
well written however there are few comments on the manuscript
1- The manuscript lacks novelty and it's results didn't add new to the existing knowledge.
2- Number of patients is low in a country with high prevalence of HBV
3- Many data are missing such as US data which is mandatory for assessment of any HBV patient
and it may change the overall picture of patients.
4. AFP Data are missing which is important in HBV assessment
4- Additional comments in the manuscript
A. Methodology: Kindly add a reference to the following sentence "patients were assessed in
accordance with the recommendations of the Sierra Leone National Treatment Guidelines for
Viral Hepatitis B and C"
B. Describe in details "comprehensive metabolic panel"
C. It's recommended to use the new terminology of HBV stages instead of  immune
clearance phase, immune tolerant phase,  etc...  (https://www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/
S0168-8278(17)30185-X/fulltext)
D. Results numbers and percentage needs be unified in presentation (n, %)
assistant