Abstract
INTRODUCTION: A pregnancy that has been complicated with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection results in typical management problems for both the mother and the newborn. One of the universal efforts in tackling the impact of chronic HBV is the prevention of mother-to-child transmission during Antenatal care via prompt screening as the majority of chronic infections globally harbored during this period. Rewarding result have been achieved in reducing this problem at this period of life through maternal screening programs and universal vaccination of infants. This study was aimed at assessing the seroprevalence and associated risk factor of HBV among pregnant women attending Antenatal Care (ANC) in Dilla University Referral Hospital (DURH), Southern Ethiopia. METHOD: A facility- based cross- sectional study was conducted from December 01 to May 30, 2017 among pregnant women attending ANC. A total of 236 pregnant women were included in this study. All Pregnant women who were attending antenatal clinic and were volunteer during the study period were included, whereas those women who were unable to communicate due to any problem, and not volunteer to give informed consent were excluded. Volunteer participants were asked to complete a questionnaire and had offered to test for HBsAg infection. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 software. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: From 215 pregnant women attending ANC, the prevalence of HBsAg by the rapid test was found to be 11 (5.1%). Among the study participants, 91.1% (215) were tested for HIV antibody during the ANC visit, with the positivity rate of 4.5%. The result showed 1.86% of the study participants who were tested for HIV were also positive for HBsAg. Among those factors affecting the transmission of HBV infection, multiple partners and HIV confection have significant association at P-value less than 0.05. CONCLUSION: The Seropositivity of Hepatitis B Virus among Pregnant Women was found to be significant and hence, routine screening of pregnant mother at Antenatal care for this virus, and subsequent management according to the guideline for both the mother and child is recommended.