Sero - Prevalence And Associated Risk Factors Of Hepatitis B Virus Amoung Preganat Women In Hawassa University Teaching And Referral Hospital

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a public health problem worldwide. It is highlyrnendemic in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Even though there was an introduction of universalrninfants HBV immunization in 2007,distribution of HBV remains a public health problem inrnEthiopia.rnObjective: To determine the sero-prevalence of HBsAg among pregnant women and to identifyrnpotential risk factors associated with the infection.rnMethods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April-May, 2015 among pregnant womenrnattending the antenatal clinic (ANC) of Hawassa University Teaching and Referral Hospital.rnAfter obtaining written and informed consent, blood sample was collected from 269 pregnantrnwomen using consecutive non- duplicative sampling method. Serum was separated from wholernblood and tested for HBsAg using Bioline strip test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assayrn(ELISA) method for further testing. Data was collected using pre-structured questionnaire andrnanalyzed using SPSS version 21. Chi-square and bivariate logistic regression analysis was usedrnto determine the association between explanatory variables and the outcome variables. The resultrnwas considered statistically significant at p < 0.05.rnResult: In this study, 269 pregnant women were participated. The mean age was 26.0 yearsrn(standard deviation (SD), 4.5; range, 16 –39 years) and the majority of study participants live inrnurban 226(84%). The overall prevalence of sero-positive HBsAg among pregnant women wasrn21(7.8%). The HBV/HIV co-infection rate was 2/14(14.2%). Of the studied risk factors onlyrneducational status [(χ2= 8.1; p- value=0.044)] had significant association with HBV infection.rnThere was no statistically significant association between history of blood transfusion, multiplernsexual practices, hospital admission, genital mutilation, surgical procedure, body tattooingrnhistory of abortion and HBV infection.rnConclusion: The highest prevalence of HBV infection was detected as compared to the previousrnstudies in different region of Ethiopia. Hence, screening of pregnant women for HBVrnirrespective of basis of risk factor may reduce exposure to HBV infectionrnKey words: Hepatitis B virus, Risk factors, Pregnant women, Hawassa

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