PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATIONS OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS INFECTION AMONG STUDENTS OF TRADITIONAL SCHOOLS, EAST NILE LOCALITY, KHARTOUM, SUDAN

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health problem causing considerable morbidity and mortality from both acute infection and chronic sequels including chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. Aim: To estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and the associated factors among children and adolescent in the traditional schools, East Nile locality. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional school-based study. Sero-prevalence survey was conducted among school children and adolescent aged 2–19 years. Total sample of 880 students were tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in serum using immune-chromatographic assay. Data were analyzed using IBM statistical package for social sciences version 20 with statistical significance of (p<0.05). Results: A total of 4.2% tested positive for HBsAg, (3.2%) among children and (4.3%) among adolescent, this is lower than the reported prevalence in the country. There was no significant association between the pre-determined risk factors and hepatitis B virus infection in the study group. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBV infections in this study was lower than the overall prevalence in Sudan. Further studies are needed to evaluate the risk factors for hepatitis B virus infection among children and adolescents in Sudan. Hepatitis B virus vaccine should be implemented in the vaccination program for children, in addition to awareness campaigns about the virus and transmission methods.