Prevalence of hepatitis b surface antigen amongst blood donors in Jos, North Central Nigeria

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a vital health problem in blood transfusion throughout the world. A good number of studies in northern Nigeria were amongst people infected with HIV/AIDS; hence information is very scarce on the prevalence of HBV infection among blood donors in Nigeria. Objectives: The necessity for information about this silent killer among these apparent healthy blood donors was the center for this study. Methodology: Hepatitis–B-surface antigen (HBsAg) latex kit was used to determine the prevalence of HBsAg among 370 voluntary blood donors (age 20-60years) in Jos university teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Result: Three hundred and seventy (370) blood donors were screened for HBsAg and 100 (27.0%) were positive. Males recorded 97 (27.3%) while females had 3 (21.4%). Prevalence of HBsAg according to age showed that, age 20-30 years recorded 33.8%, age 31-40 years recorded 27.9%, while ages 41-50 and 51-60 years recorded 14.5% and 9.1% respectively. Routine screening for HBsAg in blood donors is very important because asymptomatic donors may be chronic carriers. Conclusion: The prevalence of 27.0% HBsAg within the study population shows that it is of public health significance.