Hepatitis e prevalence, knowledge, and practice of preventive measures among secondary school adolescents in rural Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Currently, there is a paucity of data on the knowledge and practice of preventive measures for Hepatitis E infection in Nigerian populations. This study provided data on the prevalence, knowledge and practices of prevention in an adolescent population from Nigeria. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted over 3 months among rural Nigerian secondary school adolescents. An interviewer-based questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographic profile, knowledge, and practice of preventive measures for Hepatitis E infection. Blood samples collected from participants were analysed for Hepatitis E IgG using Elisa Kits (Sigma Diagnostics, USA). Data were analysed using SPSS software version 20.0. Tests of association were done with a level of significance set at 5%. Results A total of 9 out of the 414 participants tested positive for Hepatitis E IgG antibodies giving a prevalence of 2.2%. Significant factors for Hepatitis E infection were male gender {P = 0.004} and school {P < 0.001, however logistic regression gave infinite value. Most participants (98.6%) had poor knowledge of Hepatitis E infection, 239(57.7%) had good preventive practices, while 175(42.3%) had average preventive practices. Conclusion A low prevalence of HEV infection was recorded among study participants. There was poor knowledge of Hepatitis E, and association could not be established between HEV infection and individual preventive practices.

Awareness, knowledge, disease prevention practices, and immunization attitude of hepatitis E virus among food handlers in Klang Valley, Malaysia

“…Only a few studies have reported HEV awareness and knowledge among different populations. 12 , 22 , 31 , 32 Besides HEV awareness, the findings in this study provided valuable insights into hepatitis awareness levels among the respondents, where 83.5% were aware of the disease. The data also provided a better understanding of the demographic and occupational factors linked to hepatitis awareness among Malaysian food handlers.…”

“…Poor awareness among the respondents might be due to the disease being an emerging and is not notable. 22 Despite the biases, the results produced several interesting findings on HEV knowledge. This could be corroborated with our findings that hepatitis awareness contributed significant differences in the scores for the HEV knowledge.…”

“…An extensive literature search in English was performed before adapting the questions from previous studies. 17 , 22–25 Content validation is imperative in establishing the relevance of the questions according to study objectives. 26 Consequently, the evaluation was conducted by six experts, involving public health specialists, medical officer from the Health Risk Assessment Unit, and research officers from Virology Unit and Occupational unit from the Institute for Medical Research.…”

Butchering activity is the main risk factor for hepatitis E virus (Paslahepevirus balayani) infection in southwestern Nigeria: a prospective cohort study

“…In contrast to European countries, HEV transmission in Africa has traditionally been associated with large outbreaks caused by contaminated water consumption and inadequate sanitation practices ( Bagulo et al, 2018 ; Desai et al, 2022 ). Consequently, individuals in rural areas with deficient sanitation and limited access to safe drinking water are likely at the highest risk of HEV infection ( Mbachu et al, 2021 ; Osundare et al, 2021 ). Among villagers, the prevalence of HEV IgG was 8.7%, which closely resembled the prevalence observed in students (9.0%).…”