Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in an antenatal clinic in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

A total of ten thousand and thirty two (10,032) pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic in Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria were screened between January 2000 to December 2004 for the possible occurrence of hepatitis B virus using HBV paper strips. The results showed that a total of 290 (2.89%) of the pregnant women tested positive for hepatitis B Virus. The years 2001 and 2002 had the highest prevalence of 61, while 2004 had the least prevalence of 52. No significant difference (P