Prevalence of Hepatitis-B Surface Antigen among Blood Donors in Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria

Information is scarce on the prevalence of Hepatitis-B Virus (HBV) infection among blood donors in Taraba State. Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) ELISA [Gudans Industrial Hong 2 Kou, China] was used to determine theprevalence of HBsAg among 804 blood donors aged between 11 and 65 years in Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, Taraba State in 2010. Of the sample screened, 212 (26.37%) individuals were HBsAg Seropositive indicating a higher HBV infections among healthy donors. Chi-square analysis showed significant difference in infection between the two categories of donors (p<0.05). HBV infection was higher in males (34.39%) than in females (14.35%) with significant association between sexes [x2 = 28.00, df =1, p<0.05]. The highest prevalence of 41.60% was observed in the 51 – 60 years age group with statistical significant difference [x2 = 98.65, df 5, p<0.01]. This study revealed the high endemicity of HBV infection in Jalingo, Taraba state. It was suggested that careful and critical examination of donors to improve good selection be employed at the Federal Medical Centre.Keywords: Prevalence, HBV, HBsAg, Blood donor, ELISA, endemicity