Hepatitis B Virus Infection amongst Pregnant Women in North-Eastern Nigeria- A Call for Action
Niger. j. clin. pract. (Online)
;
14(1): 10-13, 2011.
Article
in English
| AIM
| ID: biblio-1267044
ABSTRACT
Background:
It is well known that Hepatitis B virus infection is endemic in Nigeria. Even though studies have been carried out on Hepatitis B virus infection in different parts of Nigeria; and in different sub-groups of individuals; information regarding the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women is scanty especially from the North-eastern region of Nigeria. We therefore determined the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) amongst pregnant women in North Eastern Nigeria. Materials andMethods:
A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out. The setting was the ante-natal clinic of the Federal Medical Centre; Yola; Nigeria. The duration of the study was from July 2008 to December 2008. Two hundred and thirty-one consecutively recruited pregnant women were screened for Hepatitis B surface antigen. Positive samples were re-tested using ELISA to eliminate false positives. Their biodata were obtained using a questionnaire to establish the presence of possible risk factors such as blood transfusion; surgery; etc. Written informed consent was obtained from each woman.Results:
Out of the 231 pregnant women tested; nineteen of them were seropositive for Hepatitis B virus infection giving an infection rate of 8.2. Women in the age group 25-29 years had the highest HBV infection rate.Conclusion:
This study confirms a high seroprevalence of Hepatitis B virus infect ion amongst pregnant women. It is recommended that pregnant women should be routinely screened for Hepatitis B virus infection as part of antenatal care services
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Index:
AIM (Africa)
Main subject:
Seroepidemiologic Studies
/
Hepatitis B virus
/
Cross-Sectional Studies
/
Pregnant Women
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prevalence study
/
Risk factors
Language:
English
Journal:
Niger. j. clin. pract. (Online)
Year:
2011
Type:
Article
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