Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) among Children of Primary School Age in a Community, North-Central, Nigeria

Abstract

Globally, Hepatitis B Virus has been identified as one of the most common infectious diseases and a major public health problem.This study was therefore carried out to assess the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection among primary school children attending LGE primary school, Sabon Pegi, Kuru, Nigeria. Three hundred and sixty (360) blood samples were collected from the pupils and sera separated and analyzed for HBsAg using one step Hepatitis B surface antigen test strip. Of the 360 samples screened, 35 (9.7%) were sero-positive. Pupils within the age 7-9 years had the highest prevalence of 3.9%. Male subjects recorded a prevalence of 6.1% compared to 3.6% for females. Risk factors such as blood transfusion recorded 1.6%. Furthermore, family history of HBV infection accounted for 3.6%, while male subjects that had traditional method of circumcision recorded a high prevalence of 3.3%. Unfortunately, the prevalence of this ravaging infectious agent appears to be high amongst the subjects studied. It is strongly suggested that public awareness be accorded urgent attention while socioeconomic development in these areas be given priority as a measure to preventing further spread of this virus amongst children, particularly the school age group.

Seroprevalence of hepatitis B Surface antigen among apparently healthy primary school pupils in Batagarawa Local Government area of Katsina State, Nigeria

“…This implies that the two genders were exposed to different possible predisposing factor(s) to HBV transmission in the environment and that is most probably the practice of circumcision by traditional healers which is generally decreasing among the female children in Nigeria. 13 This is corroborated by the findings by Ndako et al 11 from North-Central Nigeria, Kiire CF from sub-Saharan Africa and Ayoola et al who demonstrated higher HBsAg sero-prevalence among male children who had circumcision by traditional healers. 14,15,16 The role of the universal HBV vaccination in the prevention against and/or reduction in the incidence and prevalence of HBV infection has been well documented in the literature.…”

“…Male gender had been identified as an important risk factor for the transmission of HBV infection in previous studies. 8,11,12 However, the figure (23.3%) obtained in this study is higher than 9.7% among primary schoolchildren from Kuru, This difference may be a reflection of the environments as this study was conducted in a rural area where the burden of HBV infection is said to be higher. 10 Conversely, the finding of statistically significant (p< 0.005) higher HBsAg sero-positivity among the male subjects (15.8%) compared to their female counterparts (7.8%) in this study was in agreement with the findings of Bukbuk et al 8 from Borno and Gogos et al 12 from Greece who reported higher prevalence rates among male subjects screened.…”

“…14,15,16 The role of the universal HBV vaccination in the prevention against and/or reduction in the incidence and prevalence of HBV infection has been well documented in the literature. [8][9][10][11] Ayoola et al 15 observed a decline in the prevalence of hepatitis B between the year 1995 and 1998 particularly amongst children in South-Western Saudi Arabia as a result of inclusion of HepB vaccine in the routine schedule of immunization. This corroborates the findings of this study in which responses to vaccination status of the children showed that the seroprevalence of HBsAg decreased with improving/improved immunization status (p < 0.005).…”

Five-year post vaccination efficacy of hepatitis B vaccine in rural Nigeria

“…1 The infection is hyper-endemic in Nigeria with prevalence rates of the HB surface antigen (HBsAg) varying in different segments of the population. [2][3][4][5][6] The HBsAg prevalence rate was 11% amongst pregnant women, 2 17% in female sex workers 3 and 15% in a low-risk blood donor group. 4 In children, without the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the HBsAg prevalence was 9% 5,6 and 19% in those who had HIV.…”

“…[2][3][4][5][6] The HBsAg prevalence rate was 11% amongst pregnant women, 2 17% in female sex workers 3 and 15% in a low-risk blood donor group. 4 In children, without the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the HBsAg prevalence was 9% 5,6 and 19% in those who had HIV. 6 Hepatitis B infection is preventable through vaccination.…”