https://doi.org/10.4081/aamr.2025.507

Prevalence and risk factors for hepatitis B viral infection among pregnant women attending a tertiary health care centre in Benin City

Vol. 8 (2025)
Submitted: July 6, 2024
Accepted: March 14, 2025
Published: June 26, 2025
Prevalence, risk factors, hepatitis B, pregnant women, Nigeria
Abstract Views: 8
PDF: 4
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Kehinde Osazee
kehinde.osazee@uniben.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8269-682X
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, College of Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Osarobo Obahiagbon
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.

Hepatitis B (HBV) viral infection is a disease of public health importance, with about 360 million people reported to be chronically infected worldwide and an estimated 600,000 people dying yearly from HBV-related complications such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At the same time, few adults who contract the infection become chronically infected (<5%), and most neonates infected by vertical transmission become chronically infected (80-90%). This study was designed to determine the prevalence of HBV infection and the associated risk factors among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Nigeria.

This cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2022 and August 2023 among women attending the ante-natal clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

The prevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at UBTH was 9.2%. While the infection was more common among women who were unvaccinated for HBV, those who had more than one lifetime sexual partner, shared sharps and had previous spontaneous or induced miscarriages, there was no statistically significant association between any of these risk factors and the hepatitis B status of the participants.

Hepatitis B viral infection is highly endemic among pregnant women in Benin City.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Ugbebor O, Aigbirior M, Osazuwa F, et al. The prevalence of hepatitis B and C viral infections among pregnant women. North American Journal of Medical Sciences 2011;3:238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4297/najms.2011.3238
Mackay G. Sexually transmitted diseases and pelvic infections. In: Current Diagnosis and Treatment Obstetrics and Gynecology. McGraw-Hill; New York, USA; 2013.
Heneghan MA, Williamson C. Liver and endocrine diseases in pregnancy. In: Dewhurst Textbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.; Hoboken, USA; 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119211457.ch10
Cunningham FG, Leveno KJ, Dashe JS, et al. Hepatic, pancreatic and biliary disorders. In: William's Obstetrics. McGraw-Hill; New York, USA; 2018.
World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccines for hepatitis A, B and E. Available from: https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/diseases/hepatitis
World Health Organization (WHO). Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus: guidelines on antiviral prophylaxis in pregnancy. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/978-92-4-000270-8
Kim BH, Kim WR. Epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection in the United States. Clinical Liver Disease 2018;12:1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cld.732
Esan AJ, Omisakin CT, Ojo-Bola T, et al. Sero-prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus co-infection among pregnant women in Nigeria. Am J Biomed Res 2014;23:11-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12691/ajbr-2-1-3
Morlando M, Thilaganathan B. Maternal infection during pregnancy. In: Dewhurst Textbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.; Hoboken, USA; 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119211457.ch13
Klauser CK, Saltzman DH. Gastrointestinal disorders in pregnancy. In: Current Diagnosis and Treatment Obstetrics and Gynecology. McGraw-Hill; New York, USA; 2013.
Musa BM, Bussell S, Borodo MM, et al. Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in Nigeria, 2000-2013: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice 2015:26;163-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/1119-3077.151035
Akani CI, Ojule AC, Opurum HC, Ejilemele AA. Sero-prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Port Harcourt, Nigeria pregnant women. The Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal 2005;12:266-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/1117-1936.177079
Anaedobe CG, Fowotade A, Omoruyi CE, Bakare RA. Prevalence, sociodemographic features and risk factors of Hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in Southwestern Nigeria. The Pan African Medical Journal 2015;20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2015.20.406.6206
Mbaawuaga EM, Enenebeaku M, Okopi J. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among pregnant women in Makurdi, Nigeria. African Journal of Biomedical Research 2008;11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/ajbr.v11i2.50700
Luka SA, Ibrahim MB, Iliya SN. Sero-prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen among pregnant women attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Parasitology 2008;29:38-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/njpar.v29i1.37901
Yakasai IA, Ayyuba RU, Abubakar IS, Ibrahim SA. Sero-prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection and its risk factors among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. Journal of Basic and Clinical Reproductive Sciences 2012;1:49-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/2278-960X.104297
Pourhoseingholi MA, Vahedi M, Rahimzadeh M. Sample size calculation in medical studies. Gastroenterology and Hepatology from Bed to Bench 2013;6:14.
Ikobah J, Okpara H, Elemi I, et al. The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in Nigerian children before vaccine introduction into the National Programme on Immunization schedule. Pan African Medical Journal 2016;23:128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2016.23.128.8756
Gagnon A, Davies G, Wilson RD, et al. Prenatal invasive procedures in women with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and/or human immunodeficiency virus infections. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada 2014;36:648-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1701-2163(15)30546-6
Degli Esposti S, Shah D. Hepatitis B in pregnancy: challenges and treatment. Gastroenterology Clinics 2011;40:355-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gtc.2011.03.005
Bittaye M, Idoko P, Ekele BA, et al. Hepatitis B virus seroprevalence amongst pregnant women in the Gambia. BMC Infectious Diseases 2019;19:1-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-019-3883-9
Asaye Z, Aferu T, Asefa A, et al. Prevalence of hepatitis b virus among pregnant women on antenatal care follow-up at mizan-tepi university teaching hospital and mizan health centre, southwest Ethiopia. International Journal of General Medicine 2021;14:195. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S292070
Adegbesan-Omilabu MA, Okunade KS, Gbadegesin A, et al. Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women at the antenatal booking clinic of a Tertiary Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice 2015;18:819-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/1119-3077.163283
Osarobo Obahiagbon, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City

 

 

How to Cite

Osazee, K., & Obahiagbon, O. (2025). Prevalence and risk factors for hepatitis B viral infection among pregnant women attending a tertiary health care centre in Benin City. Annals of African Medical Research, 8. https://doi.org/10.4081/aamr.2025.507
Copyright (c) 2025 the Author(s) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.