Prevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen among biomedical students of African descent in Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B (HB) is a serious global public health problem that put health professionals particularly at risk. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among Biomedical Students of African descent attending Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto in North-Western Nigeria. METHODS: The Onsite HBsAg (CTK Biotech, USA) was used to detect the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen. RESULTS: We tested 186 consecutively-recruited students consisting of 147 males and 39 females aged 18–35 years (mean age 26 ± 2.0 years). Of the 186 students tested, 25 (13.4%) were positive for HBsAg. The prevalence of HBsAg was significantly higher among students in the 21–25 years age group. Hepatitis B vaccination uptake among students was 7%. Majority of subjects were single 173(93.1%) compared to married 13 (6.9%). Ethnic distribution of the subjects indicated that 104(55.9%) were Hausa compared to Yoruba 32 (17.2%), other ethnic groups 21(11.3%), Fulani 20(10.8%) and Igbo 9(4.8%). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among Biomedical students in Sokoto, North Western, Nigeria. Finding fromthis study is enough justificationfor theimplementation of a policy toroutinely test students entering into the biomedical professions for Hepatitis B virus infection. There is the need to provide hepatitis B vaccination universally to all those who are found negative prior to commencement of their biomedical training. There is also need to educate students entering biomedical professions and healthcare workers on the modes of transmission and prevention, importance of being compliant with protective vaccination as well as the need to observe universal precaution and infection control guidelines during their training and future professional practice.