Hepatitis B Virus Profile among Blood Donors in the Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria

This study was carried out to detect the prevalence of five markers of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) among prospective blood donors between the ages 18-65 years from Asokoro General Hospital Abuja, Nigeria. They were screened for Hepatitis B virus using a rapid stepwise HBV -5 panel immunoassay of Combo Cassette Manufactured by Lusys Laboratories Inc U. S. A. The overall prevalence rate of the five respective markers were HBsAg 18 (17.5), HBeAg 2 (1.9), HBsAb 18 (17.5), HBeAb 25 (24.5), and HBc 63 (61.2). Donors aged (30-40) years had the highest prevalence rate of hepatitis B virus infection compared to age groups 21-30 years and 41 years and above. Statistically, there was significant relationship between the prevalence rate of HBsAg and frequency of donation at p (0.05). Most of the samples that tested negative for HBsAg were found to be positive for other markers especially anti-HBc IgG and IgM). While anti- HBc IgG is useful for the detection of chronic HBV infection, anti-HBc IgM is useful in detecting recent infection of HBV. Thus, this study has showed that screening for HBsAg alone may not be sufficient for the diagnosis of hepatitis B virus infection.