Seroprevalence and epidemiological factors of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Eastern Sudan

Tajeldin M. Abdallah¹, Mamoon H. Mohamed² and AbdelAziem  A. Ali³*

¹Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kassala University, Sudan.

²Ministry of Health, Kassala State, Sudan.

³Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Kassala University, Sudan.
 

*Corresponding author. E-mail: abuzianab73@yahoo.com. Tel: +249912163820.

Fax: +249411823501.

Accepted 14 June, 2011

Abstract

This study was conducted at Kassala, Eastern Sudan between March and April 2011, to determine the seroprevalence and epidemiological risk factors of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among healthy people visited Kassala Teaching Hospital, eastern Sudan. 5 ml of blood were drawn from each subject, after immediate centrifugation, the sera were tested for HBsAg using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The seroprevalence revealed from ELISA was (8.2%). Among the epidemiological and risk factors, the seropositivity of HBV varied with residence, ethnicity and gender distribution (P value=0.01, 0.001 and 0.000, respectively). Substantial effort is needed to adopt the preventive measures, and HBV immunization should be strongly supported and sustained by the ministry of health in eastern Sudan.

Key words: Hepatitis B virus, infection, prevalence, epidemiology.