Abstract:
Introduction: Hepatitis B virus infection is one of the leading causes of liver diseases causing
serious public health problem worldwide. About two billion people have been infected, more
than 350 million are chronic carriers and 1.5 million deaths occur from Hepatitis B virus related
liver diseases worldwide. Human immunodeficiency virus and Hepatitis B virus infections are
epidemiologically interrelated, and co-infection can occur. Hepatitis B virus infection is highly
endemic in sub-saharan Africa and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier rates range from
9.6% to 20.6%. Ethiopia is grouped among countries with highly endemic viral hepatitis regions
and viral hepatitis is accounted for 12% of medical admission and 31 % of mortality in medical
wards. The risk of transmission of Hepatitis B virus infection with in the community and health
care settings depends on the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus within the general population.
Objective: to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of Hepatitis B virus infection among
adults in Bench Maji Zone, South West Ethiopia 2016/17
Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Bench Maji Zone,
from November 1st, 2016 to January 30, 2016. A total of 612 individuals were included in the
study from selected four woredas : from pastural woredas (Bero and Meinet Goldiya ), from
nonpastural woredas (Mizan Aman and Shewa Bench ) selected by using multistage sampling
technique. Structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data and possible
risk factors for HBV infection among participants. Upon completion of the questionnaire, 5 ml of
venous blood sample was aseptically collected by venin puncture and serum will be tested for
HBsAg using a commercial test strip. Quality of data will be guaranteed by applying all quality
control methods during laboratory work and pre test will be performed to standardize
questionnaire. Data was entered using Epi info version 7 and transferred to SPSS version 21 for
analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was employed and odds ratio with 95%
confidence interval was used to assess degree of association between variables. P value of less
than 0.05 will be considered as statistically significant.
Budget: to accomplish the whole work of the project it needs 101.302.95 ETB
