SEROLOGICAL PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS E VIRUS (HEV) AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING HEALTH-CARE CENTERS IN EKITI STATE

Abstract

THE CURRENT PREVALENCE OF HEV AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CARE AT MAJOR HEALTH-CARE CENTERS IN EKITI STATE NIGERIA WAS INVESTIGATED. NINETY (90) SERUM SAMPLES AND DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION WERE COLLECTED FROM CONSENTING PREGNANT WOMEN AGED BETWEEN 15045 YEARS AND SCREENED FOR ANTI-HEV SPECIFIC IGM ANTIBODY USING RAPID ELISA TEST KITS (CTK BIOTECH, INC. USA). DATA WERE ANALYSED USING SPSS SOFTWARE VERSION 20.0 AND CHI-SQUARE TEST. THREE OUT OF NINETY (3.3%) SERUM SAMPLES WITHIN THE AGE GROUP OF 25-35 YEARS TESTED POSITIVE FOR HEV IGM. CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS SHOWS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HEV INFECTION AND BLOOD TRANSFUSION AS AGAINST SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS