Prevalence of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen among Orphans Children Living in Orphanage in Sana'a City, Yemen

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is considered a serious public health issue in Yemen and disease epidemiology among orphaned children is not well known. Consequently, the current study was aimed to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B infection among children living in the orphanage in Sana’a city, Yemen. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from March to May 2021 to determine the HBsAg seroprevalence among children living in orphanage in Sana’a city. Three hundred and thirty-three (333) blood specimens were randomly collected from orphan children and the HBsAg was determined by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Also, the needed data and associated risk factors were collected by a standard questionnaire. The results revealed that the rate of HBsAg seroprevalence was (0.0%) recorded among participated children which means all of them are free of HBV infection. The rest of the factors failed to achieve any statistical significance with the seroprevalence of HBsAg. Moreover, the most who participated in this study were children in the age group 11-15 years old, not having work and family history of HBV, didn't smoke, medication, shared a toothbrush with another person, and infected relative HBV. Also, the vast majority of all participants had no risk factors parameters for HBV according to hemodialysis, blood transfusion, organ transplantation, cupping, and vaccination. It is recommended that the implementation of an effective health program such as hepatitis B vaccination and health education would further reduce the prevalence of hepatitis B.