Prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibody among pregnant women and blood donors at Bowen University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Hepatitis C virus is one of the emerging infectious diseases that can be transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among potential blood donors and pregnant women attending Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State. This hospital-based study was conducted from December 2014 to September 2015. The study group (N = 279) included potential blood donors and pregnant women. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. The presence of anti-HCV antibodies in serum samples of the studied subjects were detected using third-generation Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) (WKEA Med Supplies Corp, China). Chisquare test was utilized to assess the association between the socio-demographic variables and HCV status. Logistic regression was done to determine the strength of association between risk factors and HCV status. Statistical significance was set at P ˂ 0.05. Overall seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus infection was found to be 1.79% consisting 0.36% of pregnant women and 1.43% of blood donors. None of the socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors among the study groups were significantly associated with hepatitis C virus infection. This study found a seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibody to be 1.79%, thus, screening of pregnant women and blood donors for HCV infections with the use of ELISA is recommended because of its important role in detecting the presence of anti-HCV antibody with utmost specificity and sensitivity.
a Department of Pure and Applied Biology , Microbiology/Virology Unit, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology , Ogbomoso , Nigeria.
Awoyelu E
AE
Hilda
a Department of Pure and Applied Biology , Microbiology/Virology Unit, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology , Ogbomoso , Nigeria.
Oloke Julius
OJ
Kola
a Department of Pure and Applied Biology , Microbiology/Virology Unit, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology , Ogbomoso , Nigeria.
Oladipo E
OE
Kolawole
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001782:Blood Donors; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies
Bowen; HCV; Ogbomoso; seroprevalence; socio-demographic factors