Prevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Nyamagana District Hospital Mwanza, Tanzania

Abstract

In developing countries there is no routine screening of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among pregnant women resulting into limited data on its magnitude. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with active HBV infection among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic (ANC) in Mwanza City, Tanzania. A total of 211 pregnant women were serially enrolled between May and July 2014. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was determined using a rapid Immuno-chromatographic assay. The median age of the study population was 23 years (IQR 20-29 years). Of 211 pregnant women, 61.6% (130/211) were multigravidae. Eight (3.8%) of the pregnant women were positive with HBsAg. There was a significant difference in prevalence between primigravidae and multigravidae (0.8% vs. 8.6%, p=0.017). Active hepatitis B infection among pregnant women in Mwanza city is low and associated with multigravidity. Despite low prevalence of acute hepatitis B infection routine screening of HBsAg and anti HBsAg antibodies, coupled with the vaccination of those at risk should be introduced to prevent hepatitis B infection complications.

Hepatitis B virus infection and HBeAg positivity among pregnant women in South West Uganda

“…Within the East African countries, this study closely correlates with the finding of 3.8% in Mbagathi District in Kenya in 2014, 15 3.8% at Nyamagana District Hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania in 2014, 16 3.9% in Dar es Salaam in 2014 17 and 3.9% in Rwanda in 2018. 18 It is lower than the reported prevalence of HBsAg at Khartoum teaching hospital, Sudan, 7.5% in 2010, 19 and Juba teaching hospital, South Sudan, 11.0% in 2012.…”

Prevalence of chronic HBV infection in pregnant woman attending antenatal care in a tertiary hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

“…The HBsAg prevalence of 3% among 743 pregnant women in this study conducted at a tertiary hospital in Mwanza was lower compared to other studies on pregnant women [5][6][7][8], or the general population in Tanzania [4]. In the follow-up 3 years later only one (14%) of seven children showed evidence of chronic HBV infection.…”

“…Factors which have been found to be associated with HBsAg positivity in other Tanzanian and African studies include multigravidity, urban residence, younger age (15-24 years), presence of other sexually transmitted diseases, history of blood transfusions, oral contraceptives use, anemia, body tattooing and unsafe injections [5,29,30]. In our study, only the characteristic of no or sometimes condom use shows a statistically significant higher association (OR = 3.514, p = 0.008) with a positive HBsAg result.…”

“…The high percentage of completed secondary or higher education (52.6%), compared to the national net enrollment rate of secondary education of 23% in 2017 [26], is also an indicator of possible social selection bias. However, another study found a comparable prevalence of HBsAg among women delivering in primary health care settings in the area of Mwanza [5], which typically do not charge for user fee. This may indicate a lower prevalence in this area compared to the rest of Tanzania where a prevalence of 7.17% has been reported [4].…”

“…Recent studies on hepatitis B in pregnant women in Tanzania showed HBV prevalence ranging from 3.8% in a study in a district hospital in Mwanza [5], 3.9% in a tertiary hospital in Dar es Salaam [6], 4.2% in a primary health center in Moshi [7] to 8.03% in a municipal health facility in Dar es Salaam [8].…”