Abstract
Background: Hepatitis B, which is caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), is a global health problem that has resulted in high morbidity and mortality with knowledge and awareness about the occurrence and mode of transmissions relatively low among the populace. Therefore, this study examined knowledge on the mode of transmission and preventions of hepatitis B among undergraduate students in Lagos, Nigeria.
 Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive research was used, and a multi-stage sampling technique was adopted to select three hundred respondents which comprised male and female from three tertiary institutions in Lagos state in 2019. Hepatitis B Knowledge Questionnaire with a reliability index of 0.74 was used for data collection. The descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentages was used to analyse the demographic characteristics of respondents while the chi-square test was used to determine associations between categorical variables
 Results: The results revealed that a high proportion of the respondents had poor knowledge about the transmission and prevention of hepatitis B.. The result revealed that the p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically insignificant. Therefore, the study revealed that there is no significant relationship between gender and hepatitis B
 Conclusion: A critical level of public awareness and vaccination coverage, particularly among students, is essential to decrease Lagos' burden.
Highlights
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major public health problems in the world
According to the Center for Disease Control (2017), about 120,000 of Nigeria's population are affected with Hepatitis B, more than 50,000 suffered from lifelong chronic infection, and more than 12,000 individuals die due to HBVinduced infections
The result of this study reveals that most of the students have acceptable knowledge on the mode of transmission and prevention of the HBV only 25% of the students know that there is no cure for Hepatitis B. while there may be indications that HBV may be controlled or possibly eradicated in the nearest future, current antiviral strategies for its treatment are either poorly affective or only effective for non-curative suppression of the viral replication thereby reducing complications, and reduction of inflammation of liver (Eredoro & Egbochukwu, 2017)
Summary
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major public health problems in the world. World Health Organisation (WHO, 2017) estimated that about one-third of the world population is infected with HBV. Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus may either be asymptomatic or associated with chronic inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis), leading to cirrhosis for several years. This type of infection dramatically increases the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (WHO, 2017). Hepatitis B, which is caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), is a global health problem that has resulted in high morbidity and mortality with knowledge and awareness about the occurrence and mode of transmissions relatively low among the populace. This study examined knowledge on the mode of transmission and preventions of hepatitis B among undergraduate students in Lagos, Nigeria. Conclusion: A critical level of public awareness and vaccination coverage, among students, is essential to decrease Lagos' burden
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
