Prevalence of Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Healthy Hbsag Negative Blood Donors in Owerri Town, South-east Nigeria
Ukoha OB
New Owerri Mainland Specialist Hospital, Owerri, Nigeria.
Chukwurah SN
*
Department of Medicine, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.
Ukoha O
New Owerri Mainland Specialist Hospital, Owerri, Nigeria.
Anyanechi CC
Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Nigeria.
Ekwunife CU
Carez Specialist Hospital, Owerri, Nigeria.
Udigwe CF
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.
Nwadimkpa CH
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.
Izunwa OE
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.
Eze HT
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.
Okonkwo UC
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria.
Ihekwaba AE
Department of Medicine, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection with its attendant complications is a disease of major public health importance being the 10th leading cause of death globally. Transfusion transmitted HBV continues to be a major problem despite the routine screening of donor blood products using the ELISA method. This study is aimed to determine the prevalence of Occult Hepatitis B virus infection among healthy HBsAg negative blood donors in Owerri, South-East Nigeria.
Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in consecutive prospectiveblood donors in Owerri, South-East Nigeria.
Results: A total of 180 participants were enrolled for the study.
The age of the subjects ranged from 21 to 45 years with a mean [SD] of 26.85 [5.21] years. The male to female ratio was 4.6:1. Of the 180 participants, 33 (18.3%) had anti - HBc IgG positive antibodies. Out of the 33 anti - HBclgG positive participants, 5(15.2%) of them were anti-HBs positive while 13 (15.2%) of them had detectable HBV DNA.The prevalence of occult HBV infection was 7.2% (13/180).
Conclusions: Occult HBV infection is not common among Nigerian blood donors. This study signifies the high prevalence of OBI and proposes that the blood samples in Nigeria should be pre-tested for OBI by Nucleic Acid Testing and/- or anti-HBV before transfusion to minimize the HBV transmission risk.
Keywords: Hepatitis B virus, blood transfusion, ELISA, liver cirrhosis