title: Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among blood donors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana (2009).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite education and availability of drugs and vaccines, hepatitis B virus (HBV) is still the most common severe liver infection in the world accounting for >1 million annual deaths worldwide. Transfusion of infected blood, unprotected sex and mother to child transmission are 3 key transmission routes of HBV in Ghana. There is high incidence of blood demanding health situations in northern Ghana resulting from anemia, accidents, malnutrition, etc. The higher the demand, the higher the possibility of transmitting HBV through infected blood. The aim of the investigation was to estimate the prevalence of HBV in blood donors which will provide justification for interventions that will help minimize or eliminate HBV infection in Ghana.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We investigated the prevalence of HBV infection among blood donors at Tamale Teaching Hospital. The Wondfo HBsAg test kit was used to determine the concentration of HBsAg in 6,462 (576 voluntary and 5,878 replacement) donors as being ≥1 ng/ml. 10.79% of voluntary donors and 11.59% of replacement donors were HBsAg+. The 20-29 year group of voluntary donors was >2 times more likely to be HBsAg + than 40-60. Also the 20-29 year category of replacement donors was >4 times as likely to be HBsAg + than 50-69.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Risk of infection was age, sex and donor type dependent. The 20-29 year category had the highest prevalence of HBsAg + cases, mostly males residing within the metropolis.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, P.O. Box 1350, Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana. dongdem@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Julius Tieroyaare
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Dongdem
authors.forename: Sylvanus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kampo
authors.forename: Ireneous N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Soyiri
authors.forename: Patrick Nsobila
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Asebga
authors.forename: Juventus B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ziem
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sagoe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001782:Blood Donors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic