Prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and its risk factors among individuals visiting Goba General Hospital, South East Ethiopia, 2012

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus infection is a significant health problem. Approximately two billion people worldwide have chronic Hepatitis B virus infection and over one million die annually. Hepatitis B virus infection and Human Immunodeficiency Virus co-infection is an emerging concern in the clinical management of patients because of shared routes of transmission. METHODS: Hospital based cross-sectional study was performed from January to June, 2012 at Goba General Hospital. Socio-demographic and possible risk factors data from study subjects were collected using pre-test and structured questionnaire. Venous blood was collected and the serums were tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen and Human Immune Deficiency Virus using commercially available rapid test kits. Data were entered and analyzed using the SPSS software package (version15). Binary and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated factors. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistical significant. RESULT: The prevalence of Hepatitis B surface Antigen in this study group was 26 (7.4%). Prevalence of Hepatitis B Human Immune Deficiency Virus Co-infection was about 9 (42.3%) and about 17 (5.1%) of Human Immuno Deficiency Virus negative subjects were positive for Hepatitis B surface Antigen. Risk factors like, hospital admission, multiple sexual partners, HIV status, and unsafe drug injection were found to have significant association with Hepatitis B surface Antigen on binary logistic regression. However, multiple sexual partners and being positive for Human Immuno Deficiency Virus infection were the only significantly associated with Hepatitis B Virus on multivariable logistic regression. CONCLUSION: Even though Hepatitis B surface Antigen prevalence is higher among subjects who are Human Immuno Deficiency Virus positive, screening program has to be started in the hospital for all clients regardless of their disease status to prevent the potential spread of the infection.