Sero-prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HCV Co-infection among Pregnant Women Accessing Primary Health Care (PHC) Maternity of Lamurde, Mubi-South, Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The epidemiology of viral hepatitis among pregnant women is of paramount significance in policy and decision making and the provision of effective and adequate antenatal care, especially in the grassroots health care facilities like that of our study area. This study is cross-sectional hospital-based research aimed at investigating the seroprevalence of HBsAg and anti-HCV among pregnant women accessing PHC maternity in Lamurde, Mubi for antenatal care. Blood samples from all the 100 consenting pregnant women were screened for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies using rapid diagnostic kits. A total of 11(11.0%) of the pregnant women tested were seropositive for HBsAg and none 0.0(0.0%) of the participants tested were seropositive for anti-HCV. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seropositivity was highest in the age group 26-30yrs (17.4%) and least in the age group 16-20yrs (3.4%). However, no single case of HBsAg and or anti-HCV was recorded in the age groups 31-35. Most of the participants (55.0%) in this study were those without formal education. The highest (18.5%) prevalence rate of HBsAg was reported among pregnant women with secondary education, closely followed by pregnant women with primary education (18.2%). The association between educational status and infection with hepatitis B virus (OR =3.75, 95% CI = 0.931-15.08) showed that the odds were 3.75 times higher that pregnant women with formal education will be infected with HBV when compare with pregnant women with no formal education, but with no statistical difference. In view of the above result and the likelihood of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis viruses, there is a need to institute compulsory routine screening for these viruses for all pregnant women attending antenatal care in Mubi