Prevalence of Hepatities B and C among Blood Donors at Akwanga General Hospital, Nasarawa State

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a major global health problem. More than three-quarters of HBV infections occur in Africa, Asia and Middle East. HCV causes an acute and necro inflamatory disease of liver. Blood serves as a vehicle for transmission of blood-borne pathogens including hepatitis viruses. Determination of the prevalence of HBV and HCV among blood-donors in particular will certainly help in reviewing the screening procedures and making health policy decisions. The study aims at investigating the prevalence of HBV, HCV and associated risk factors among blood donors at Akwanga general Hospital. A cross-sectional study will be conducted to determine the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections among blood donors. The blood samples were screened for HBV and HCV. All serum samples were tested for HBsAg and anti-HCV using rapid screening kit method according to the manufacturer’s instruction. The overall prevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C virus and their co- infection among blood donors at Akwanga general Hospital was found to be 24.7%, 16.7%, 9.3% respectively. For risk factors of hepatitis B, it was more prevalent among those that have multiple sex partners (36.7%) and least was recorded among those that shear sharp object(21.9%), for hepatitis C, it was more prevalent among those that have previous history of transfusion (24.1%) and least was recorded among those that have family history of hepatitis (8.7%) and for their co- infection, it was more prevalent among those that have multiple sex partners (14.3) and least was recorded among those that  have diagnosis history of hepatitis (5.9).