Abstract
Nigeria commenced her hepatitis B immunization programme in 2004 but there have been few evaluations of the programme in different parts of the country given the fact that prevalence in different regions of the country varies. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBsAg and the hepatitis B immunization status among children admitted to the children's emergency room (CHER) in Benin Teaching Hospital. A descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in 150 consecutively recruited children aged 2 months to 15 years admitted to the CHER of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. HBsAg was assayed for in blood. HBsAg seroprevalence was 13.9%. Majority (83%) of the children were age appropriately immunized for hepatitis B. Mean age at receipt of the birth dose of hepatitis B (28.0 ± 20.4 days) was significantly delayed (p<0.0001). Mean age at completion of the schedule(110 ± 18.6 days) was significantly delayed compared to the recommended age of 98 days p<0.0002). Age, sex and socioeconomic status were not significantly associated with being seropositive(p>0,05). HBsAg seroprevalence was high despite high immunization coverage. Lack of timeliness in the receipt of the birth dose and in completion of the schedule may have contributed to the seeming lack of effectiveness of the immunization programme.
Highlights
Hepatitis B virus infection is a disease of global public health significance with about a third of the world population showing evidence of infection while about 350 million of these are chronically infected.[1,2] Its prevalence varies from one region to another resulting in different levels of endemicity.[1]
In a recent review of hepatitis B in Nigeria, this reason was proffered as explanation for the observed higher prevalence in the more recent studies compared to older studies.[13]
This study found age not to be significantly associated with hepatitis B status
Summary
Hepatitis B virus infection is a disease of global public health significance with about a third of the world population showing evidence of infection while about 350 million of these are chronically infected.[1,2] Its prevalence varies from one region to another resulting in different levels of endemicity.[1]. Many countries have recorded reductions in prevalence of HBsAg following the introduction of universal immunization for children These include Italy, Taiwan and Gambia.5,7,8In Nigeria routine coverage for hepatitis B has been reported [9] but few studies have evaluated HBsAg carrier rates since the introduction of hepatitis B immunization. Such studies are necessary to determine the effectiveness of the programme and to identify problems.
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