Carriage rate of hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) in an urban community in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.

The carriage rate of Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) in an urban community in Jos, the Plateau State capital, was studied to obtain the pattern of Hepatitis-beta virus (HBV) spread within the community. HBsAg screening was performed on a consecutive sample of 524 apparently healthy individuals (293 males and 231 females) aged 15-65 years who voluntarily turned up for the survey. Fifty-four (10.3%) were HBsAg positive by ELISA. The carriage rate in females 30/231 (13.0%) was significantly higher than in the males 24/293 (8.2%) (p<0.05). In relation to age, 14/144 (9.7%) were aged <20 years, 11/121 (9.1%) were 21-30 years, 7/115 (6.1%) were 31-40 years, 14/89 (15.7%) were 41-50 years, 2/27 (7.4%) were 51-60 years and 6/28 (21.4%) were >61 years. In relation to marital status, carriage rate was highest among the divorced/widowed group (12.5%) followed by the married group (10.6%). Carriage rates in relation to occupation showed that infection was highest among traders (13.7%) and students (13.2%). The survey therefore confirms the endemicity of HBV infection in Jos and describes the groups that are at risk. This calls for health education of the general population on preventive measures to check the spread of the virus in the community.