Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Young Students of Anand

Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the most common infection in the world with significant & serious public health implications. The disease may lead to late complications like chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis & hepatocellular carcinoma. The present study is aimed to know the prevalence of this serious infection among the young students of college in Anand. Material & Methods: HBsAg is the first serological marker in acute HBV infection and is detected 2 ? 4 weeks before alanine aminotransferase level become abnormal and 3 ? 5 weeks befor symptoms of Jaundice. This study is conducted among the young students from whom blood samples were collected. Serum was separated and assayed by Rapid Immunochromatographic Assay - INSTACHK HEPATITIS (One Step HBsAg Test) kit having sensitivity of 98.89 % and specificity of 100 %. Results: Among the total 1152 students, 08 cases (0.694 %) were found infected with HBsAg. Conclusion: The present study revealed that rate of HBsAg infection is quite low compared with other studies conducted in different population of different area. Half of the infected individuals had past history of surgery or liver disease.