PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION IN ONICHA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA
Chima Cornelius Ogbonna, Dennis Chimezie Nwosu, Onu Isaac Onyeke and Emmanuel Ifeanyi Obeagu*
ABSTRACT
Determination of Hepatitis C Virus infection in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State Nigeria using HCV antibody test strip for Rapid Assessment Survey were carried out between the years 2020 to 2022. Ethical approval for the work was obtained from the ministry of Health Ebonyi State. Thereafter, appropriate advocacy visits were made to the authorities of the LGA and the development centers. Five Development Centers from the LGA were randomly selected for the survey. Informed Consent was also obtained from the participants aged 16-50 years of both sexes. Six hundred and thirty-three (633) participants (194 males and 439 females) were recruited for the study. Blood samples were appropriately collected from the subjects and screened for Hepatitis C Virus infection using the
antibody (Ab) rapid test kit. The screening result showed 88 positive cases giving a significant prevalence of 13.9% in the study population. There was variation in prevalence with relation to age group: 17.9% was recorded for those aged 16-20 years, 16.3% for those aged 21-25 years, 11.8% for those aged 26-30 years, 5.6% for those aged 31-35 years, 15.5% for those aged 36-40 years, 15.1% for those aged 41-45 and 12.8% for those aged 46-50 years. This variation was found to be statistically significant (Ø
Keywords: Virus, Hepatitis C, Prevalence, ELISA.
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