Abel Angbalaga Gladys, Shamarina Shohaimi, Hisham Mohd Nadzir Mohd Noor, Hafiz Ab Rahman Abdul
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, P.M.B 146, Nigeria.
Afr J Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 25;19(1):45-56. doi: 10.21010/Ajidv19i1.6. eCollection 2025.
Hepatitis B (HB), caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), remains a critical public health challenge in Nigeria. Globally, the HBV infects approximately 296 million people, significantly contributing to morbidity and mortality, with liver cirrhosis and liver cancer ranking as the 11th and 24th leading causes of death, respectively. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HBV infection and the associated risk factors within the Lafia Metropolis, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2023, utilizing a validated questionnaire to assess 461 randomly selected participants from four communities (Azuba, Bukan Sidi, Danka Sarki, and Doka), representing diverse sociodemographic profiles and varying degrees of exposure to risk factors associated with HBV infection. Data were analyzed using chi-square (χ) tests with IBM SPSS statistical software version 28.0 at a significance level of p < 0.05.
The findings showed that the overall prevalence of HBV infection was 7.8%. A significant association was observed between the prevalence of HBV infection and monthly income (p < 0.01). However, no associations were found with age, gender, educational level, marital status, occupation, or religion. Regarding risk factors, a significant association was found between HBV infection and awareness of one's HBV status (p < 0.03).
These findings highlight the need for targeted public health interventions and policies aimed at reducing HBV transmission among high-risk sociodemographic groups in Lafia Metropolis. This approach could potentially reduce the burden of HBV and improve health outcomes in affected communities.
由乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）引起的乙型肝炎（HB）在尼日利亚仍然是一项严峻的公共卫生挑战。在全球范围内，HBV感染约2.96亿人，对发病率和死亡率有重大影响，肝硬化和肝癌分别是第11位和第24位主要死因。本研究旨在确定尼日利亚纳萨拉瓦州拉菲亚市城区HBV感染的患病率及其相关危险因素。
于2023年9月至11月进行了一项横断面研究，使用经过验证的问卷对来自四个社区（阿祖巴、布坎西迪、丹卡萨基和多卡）的461名随机选择的参与者进行评估，这些社区代表了不同的社会人口特征以及与HBV感染相关的不同程度的危险因素暴露情况。使用IBM SPSS统计软件28.0版进行卡方（χ）检验分析数据，显著性水平为p < ０.０５。
研究结果显示，HBV感染的总体患病率为7.8%。观察到HBV感染患病率与月收入之间存在显著关联（p < 0.01）。然而，未发现与年龄、性别、教育程度、婚姻状况、职业或宗教存在关联。关于危险因素，发现HBV感染与对自身HBV状况的知晓情况之间存在显著关联（p < 0.03）。
这些研究结果凸显了针对公共卫生干预措施和政策的必要性，旨在减少拉菲亚市城区高危社会人口群体中的HBV传播。这种方法可能会减轻HBV负担并改善受影响社区的健康状况。
