P3.41 Prevalence, socio-demographic and sexual behavioural risk factors for hepatitis b virus infection among pregnant women in southwestern nigeria

Abstract

IntroductionIn endemic countries, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection occurs mainly during infancy and early childhood, with vertical transmission from an infected mother being a major route of infection. This study aimed at identifying the prevalence and sexual behavioural risk factors for HBV infection among pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria.MethodsA cross-sectional study was done at the antenatal clinic of the University College Hospital Ibadan. One hundred and eighty pregnant women were recruited over a six month period, and their serum was tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (BIORAD FRANCE) using third generation ELISA and HIV-1 and 2, using Uni-Gold Recombigen and ALERE determine. Positive HBsAg samples were tested for Hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg), antibody (HBeAb) and Hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) (DIAPRO Italy) while serum HBV DNA was detected using PCR. Data were obtained using questionnaires and analysed using SPSS-20ResultsThe seroprevalence of HBsAg was 8.3% out of which 26.7% were positive for HBeAg, 53.3% had HBeAb, 20% had neither HBeAg nor HBeAb, 100% had total HBcAb and 86.7% had HBV DNA in their serum. A co-infection rate (HBV/HIV) of 26.7% was observed. The mean age was 32.1 years, the highest HBV infection rate occurred in 25–29 year age group. Multiple sexual partners (OR- 3.987, P- value=0.026), early age at sexual debut (OR −11.996, P- value=0.022) were independent risk factors for HBV infection.ConclusionThe result of this study brings to light the high prevalence and high infectivity rate of chronic HBV virus infection among women of child bearing age in Nigeria. Thus, there is a dire need for routine screening for all pregnant women during antenatal care, immunoprophylaxis for exposed newborns and surveillance for those with chronic infection. The socio-demographic and risky sexual behavioural characteristics found to be predictors of HBV infection should be considered when developing strategies towards effective sexual health promotion campaign and health education programs on prevention and control measures.

Epidemiology of HBV in Pregnant Women, South West Nigeria

“…Another key finding from our study is the significant association between blood transfusion and HBV infection as HBV positive pregnant women were 5 times more likely to have had blood transfusion in the past 3 months. This finding is consistent with similar studies conducted in Nigeria [5,11,23,36] and elsewhere [19,34]. One key explanation for this observed association is the fact that pregnant women in developing countries are prone to obstetric complications due to poor health infrastructure, high cost of specialized medical services along with sub-optimal clinical practices and lack of essential skills among health personnel required to effectively manage their conditions [3,26].…”

“…For instance, the recent and most nationally representative HBV prevalence burden was reported to be 12.2% [26], while the most comprehensive meta-analytical study conducted till date (2000-2013) on HBV burden in Nigeria found an overall pooled estimate of 13.6% national prevalence and a 14.1% burden in pregnant women attending antenatal clinics across the country [27]. A similar study conducted in the region at the University College Hospital Ibadan, found 8.3% frequency of HBV infection in the study population [23].…”

“…was considered [24]. In the above formula, Z 1-α/2 is the standard normal variate with the value of 1.96 to estimate the significance of the P values at 5% type 1 error (P < 0.05), p is the expected proportion of P is the expected proportion of pregnant women with Hepatitis B infection in South West Nigeria -0.08 as reported in a previous study in the same region [23]. Finally, the absolute error or precision d of 0.04 was chosen for this study.…”

“…However, few studies so far, have assessed the burden of hepatitis B and HIV co-infection and risk factor profile in pregnant women in Nigeria. The most recent attempt to estimate the burden of HBV in the region was a study by Anaedobe et al (2015) which only considered 180 pregnant women all screened from the University College Hospital Ibadan, a tertiary hospital in the region [23]. In this study, we attempt to provide an improved and more representative estimate of the HBV prevalence burden in the region.…”

The prevalence of, and risk factors for, mycoplasma genitalium infection among infertile women in Ibadan: A cross-sectional study

“…All tubes were sealed and briefly centrifuged before amplification in PCR machine. After amplification, electrophoretic separation of PCR products was performed on 1.5% agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide, and visualized by Ultraviolet illumination (15).…”