Assessment of prevalence of Hepatitis B virus and its associated factors among pregnant women from Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

Objective: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a highly contagious virus. It occurs worldwide and constitutes a serious public health problem. However, studies on the prevalence of HBV infection in Ethiopia are limited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of HBV infection and associated risk factors among pregnant women from Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to May 2020 among pregnant women attending ante-natal care (ANC) at Wolaita Sodo Teaching and Referral Hospital. A total number of 252 pregnant women were included in the proposed study. Respondents were asked to complete the questionnaires and offered test-ing for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) detection. Chi-square and odds ratios were used to determine the association between dependent and independent variables. Results: Among all studied pregnant women the prevalence of HBV infection was 7.5%. Most of the studied risk factors like history of blood transfusion, multiple sexual partners, hospital admission, genital mutilation, surgical procedure, body tattooing, history of previous birth delivery were not statistically significant for HBV infection. Conclusions: Regular screening for HBV infection and vaccination against HBV targeting this population group may reduce the prevalence and mother to child transmission of HBV infection.