Abstract:

Background: Hepatitis B virus infection is a major public health problem worldwide that affects billions of people. Most people are unaware of their infection with viral hepatitis and unknowingly transmit the infection to other people, so it is a silent epidemic due to its highly asymptomatic nature. The aim of the study was to assess the Seroprevalence and associated risk factors of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections among blood donors at infectious diseases hospital (IDH) Kano, Nigeria. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted at the blood bank of Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) Kano, Nigeria from August, 2019 to September, 2019. Data was collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was performed to obtain the frequency distribution of the variables Results: The result shows that 341 participants responded to the questionnaire. 7.3% of the study subjects were positive for HBsAg. 67.4% of the respondents had heard about the hepatitis B virus infection. 66.3%, 57.5% and 58.4% of the respondents in the study reported the presence of fever, loss of appetite and headache as the main symptoms of hepatitis B virus infections. 58.7%, 41.1%, 38.4% and 46.6% of the participants perceived blood transfusion, unprotected sexual intercourse, mother to fetus and use of unsafe needles or sharps as the main mode of transmission of hepatitis B virus infection. Conclusion: Therefore, it is concluded that the Epidemiological Assessment of Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Hepatitis B Virus Infection Among Blood Donors at Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) Kano, Nigeria is relatively low. Therefore, Health education, routine immunization, effective and periodic screening for HBV is recommended. Furthermore, accurate information on risk factors for HBV transmission should be provided.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus, Seroprevalence, Blood donors, Kano, Nigeria

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