PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HEPATITIS B VIRUS INFECTION AMONG ADULTS IN BENCH MAJI ZONE, SOUTHWEST ETHIOPIA 2016/17

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