Abstract:
Infection by Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) among mothers have
high rate of vertical transmission and horizontal transmission and also have adverse effect
on both the mother and the child. Understanding the epidemiology of these viruses could be
valuable to take appropriate preventive measures, therefore, this study tried to determine
the seroprevalence and associated factors of HBV and HCV among mothers living in Harar
town. A cross sectional study was conducted among 461 mothers living in Harar, Eastern
Ethiopia from March 1 – May 30, 2017. Systematic random sampling method was used to
select the study participants among mothers by using list of mother’s house number. Data
xiv
was collected by face to face interview using pre tested structured questioners. Five
millilitre of venous blood was collected with plain tube from each study subject and serum
was tested for Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) and ,on combined HCV screening
kit,anti-Hepatitis C Virus Antibody (anti HCV Ab) or/and Hepatitis C Virus Antigen (HCV
Ag)tested by using Enzyme-linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA). Data was analysed by
using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. The seroprevalence rates
for HBV and HCV infection were 5.9 % and 1.1% respectively. None of the mothers were
co-infected by HBV and HCV. Among the potential risk factors, previous history of
abortion (AOR =3.674 95%CI 1.413-9.549) and multiple sexual exposure (AOR =10.636,
95% CI 4.044-27.975) were significant predictors of HBV infection on multivariate
analysis. All of the assessed possible risk factors were not associated with HCV infection.
This study showed an intermediate and low prevalence of HBV and HCV infection among
mothers respectively. Having history of multiple sexual partner and history of abortion play
significant role in the transmission of the HBV.Therefore provision of health information
dissemination about the risk factors, the mode of vertical and horizontal transmissions and
prevention of these viruses is recommended.
