The prevalence of HBsAg, knowledge and practice of hepatitis B prevention among pregnant women in the Limbe and Muyuka Health Districts of the South West region of Cameroon: a three-year retrospective study

Abstract

Introduction hepatitis B infection is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV is transmitted through sexual intercourse, by exchange of saliva during kissing and also to newborns of infected mothers. In the Global Burden of Diseases 2010, 786,000 deaths were attributed to HBV. Studies in Cameroon, reported the prevalence of HBV as high as 10.1% and 12% among blood donors in hospital blood banks. This study therefore, aims at determining the prevalence of HBsAg, knowledge and practices of pregnant women on HBV prevention and transmission in the Limbe Health District (LHD) and Muyuka Health District (MHD). Methods ANC registers were exploited from the health centers for a period of three years (2014-2016) in order to determine the prevalence of HBV infection. 270 women attending ANC were selected by exhaustive sampling. Knowledge and practices of participants on HBV prevention and transmission was assessed using a structured questionnaire. Results the prevalence of HBV in the LHD and MHD were 5.7% and 7.5% respectively. Pregnant women in the LHD demonstrated good knowledge but adopted poor practices whereas in the MHD, pregnant women demonstrated poor knowledge and adopted poor practices regarding the mode of transmission and prevention of HBV infection. There was a significant association between the prevalence of HBsAg and marital status (p = 0.000) in the LHD and age (p = 0.022) in the MHD. Conclusion this study indicated a high prevalence of HBV among pregnant women in the LHD and MHD, knowledge and practices were identified as potential risk factors.

Hepatitis B and C viruses’ infection and associated factors among pregnant women in the Amhara region, Ethiopia: implications for prevention of vertical transmission.

“…However, our ndings are higher than those of studies done in the east Wolega zone 2.4%, Dawuro 3.5%, Addis Ababa 3%, Eritrea 3.2%, Germany 0.48%, Turkey 2.1%, and China 3.2% [28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. On the other hand, our ndings are lower than those studies done in Dire Dewa 8.4%, Mekele 8%, Hawasa 7.8%, Yirgalem 7.2%, Gambella 7.9%, Harar 6.9%, Tigray 5.5%, Gambia 9.2%, Tazania 8.03%, Cameroon 6.6%, and Ghana 12.9% [16,18,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. There is a variation among the prevalence's of our study with the studies that were conducted around the globe.…”

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection and associated factors among pregnant women at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana

“…Ephraim, Donko [8] also substantiated that socio-demographic factors did not influence HBV infection among pregnant women in the Ashanti Region. On the contrary, similar studies in Ethiopia, Uganda and Cameroon found significant association between socio-demographic factors, such as marital status, age and occupation and HBV infection among pregnant women [6,10,11]. These findings suggest that risk factors of HBV differ from country to country.…”

“…In Nigeria, Anaedobe, Fowotade [12], revealed that pregnant women with multiple sexual partners [6,10,[13][14][15] and those who experienced early sexual debut were more likely to be infected with HBV. Other risk factors include marital status, history of abortion, blood transfusion and surgery, family history of HBV infection, and alcohol intake [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. However, other studies in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana, found no significant association between participants' characteristics and HBV positivity [8,9].…”

“…Some studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between participants' characteristics and HBV infection during pregnancy. For example, a retrospective study in Cameroon found a significant relationship between occupation [10] and age [6,11], and HBV infection among pregnant women [11]. In Nigeria, Anaedobe, Fowotade [12], revealed that pregnant women with multiple sexual partners [6,10,[13][14][15] and those who experienced early sexual debut were more likely to be infected with HBV.…”

Seroprevalence and determinants of hepatitis B viral status in pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in an urban community of Oyo state, South-West Nigeria

“…17 Meanwhile, some studies had reported lower prevalence of HBV among pregnant women. [18][19][20] The disparity in figures could have been due to differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents in the respective study settings. The high prevalence of HBV as revealed in the current study and many others portent an emerging public health challenge which requires urgent and concerted efforts from both governmental and non-governmental health agencies to stem the rising tide.…”