Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Ethiopian Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
BMC Public Health. 2020 May 19;20(1):721. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08893-1.
Currently, there is an increased flow of refugees into Ethiopia from neighboring countries. However, there are no post-arrival screening mechanisms for hepatitis B and C viruses which could be an additional burden for the local population. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors for hepatitis B and C viruses among refugees in Gambella, Ethiopia. It also aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice concerning hepatitis B and C viruses among participants.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 453 refugees in Gambella, Ethiopia from January until May 2018. A questionnaire was used to collect data on refugees' socio-demographic, risk factors, and KAP of hepatitis B and C infections. Five milliliters of blood sample were collected from each participant and the serum was used for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibody screening rapid tests. Positive samples were further tested by ELISA method. Data were performed using SPSS version 20, and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
The overall prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HCV among refugees was 7.3% (33/453) and 2.0% (9/453) respectively. Of these, 6.8% (25/370) and 1.4% (5/370) of females were positive for HBsAg and anti-HCV, whereas 9.6% (8/83) and 4.8% (4/83) of males were positive for HBsAg and anti-HCV. The age group of 18-29 and 30-41 years old were related to HCV infection (P = 0.003 and P = 0.020). However, proposed risk factors were not related to HBV and HCV infections. Knowledge assessment showed that 86.5% (392/453) did not know how HBV and HCV infections are transmitted, and 86.8% (393/453) had no information about the availability of HBV vaccine.
This study showed intermediate prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus in a large refugee camp in Ethiopia. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus was found to increase with age, but no other risk factor for either virus identified as significant. Refugees' understanding of hepatitis B and C was very limited. This indicates the need for screening policy to be implemented and integrated with other health services and awareness creation about the infection in all refugee camps of Gambella.
目前，有大量难民从邻国涌入埃塞俄比亚。然而，对于乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎病毒，这里没有入境后的筛查机制，这可能会给当地居民带来额外的负担。因此，本研究旨在确定在埃塞俄比亚甘贝拉的难民中乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎病毒的流行情况及其相关危险因素。本研究还旨在确定参与者对乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎病毒的知识、态度和实践情况。
本研究是一项横断面研究，于 2018 年 1 月至 5 月期间在埃塞俄比亚甘贝拉的 453 名难民中进行。使用问卷收集有关难民社会人口统计学、危险因素以及乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎感染知识、态度和实践的信息。从每个参与者采集 5 毫升血样，血清用于乙型肝炎表面抗原和抗丙型肝炎病毒抗体的快速筛查检测。阳性样本进一步用 ELISA 法检测。数据使用 SPSS 版本 20 进行分析，p 值小于 0.05 被认为具有统计学意义。
难民中乙型肝炎表面抗原和抗丙型肝炎病毒的总流行率分别为 7.3%（33/453）和 2.0%（9/453）。其中，女性中乙型肝炎表面抗原和抗丙型肝炎病毒的阳性率分别为 6.8%（25/370）和 1.4%（5/370），男性中乙型肝炎表面抗原和抗丙型肝炎病毒的阳性率分别为 9.6%（8/83）和 4.8%（4/83）。18-29 岁和 30-41 岁年龄组与丙型肝炎感染相关（P=0.003 和 P=0.020）。然而，所提出的危险因素与乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎感染无关。知识评估显示，86.5%（392/453）的人不知道乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎病毒是如何传播的，86.8%（393/453）的人不知道乙型肝炎疫苗的可获得性。
本研究表明，在埃塞俄比亚的一个大型难民营中，乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎病毒的流行率处于中等水平。丙型肝炎病毒的流行率随着年龄的增长而增加，但没有发现其他病毒的危险因素具有统计学意义。难民对乙型肝炎和丙型肝炎的了解非常有限。这表明需要实施筛查政策，并将其与甘贝拉所有难民营的其他卫生服务相结合，同时提高对感染的认识。
