Demographic and sociocultural characteristics of sickle anaemia children with positive hepatitis B surface antigenaemia in a tertiary health facility in Enugu.

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B virus) infection is contracted through contact with body fluid of infected persons. Patients with sickle cell anaemia (SCA), a common haematological disorder in Nigeria, have tendencies to visit traditional healers who administer scarifications and ritual marks that may expose them to HBV infection.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of children with SCA infected with HBV at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu.

SUBJECTS AND METHOD

Two hundred and twenty one children aged 6 months to 17 years with SCA were recruited consecutively from October 2004 to April 2005. They were screened for HBsAg using ELISA method.

RESULTS

There was no statistically difference in hepatitis B surface antigenaemia among different age group (P = 0.907). Social class did not significantly influence the prevalence of HBsAg among subjects (p = 0.887). Socio-cultural practices like circumcision and scarification did not influence the prevalence of HBsAg, (p = 0.636) (p = 0.771) respectively. Significantly higher number of people from lowest socioeconomic class practice scarification (p = 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

Demographic and sociocultural factors do not appear to influence the prevalence of HBsAg among children with SCA in Enugu, Nigeria.