Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection amongst Febrile Patients Attending Selected Public and Private Hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria
Adedayo Emmanuel Ogunware *
Department of Biochemistry, Lagos State University, Ojo, P.M.B. 0001, Lagos, Nigeria.
Adedayo Olawale Onakomaiya
Department of Microbiology, Lagos State University, Ojo, P.M.B. 0001, Lagos, Nigeria.
Adesewa Adeyinka Adekoya
Department of Biochemistry, Lagos State University, Ojo, P.M.B. 0001, Lagos, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the leading reason for liver transplantation in the world; patients infected with HCV are at increased risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. The study was aimed at evaluating the seroprevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection amongst febrile patients attending selected public and private hospitals in Lagos state, Nigeria. The hospital based cross-sectional study took place between October and December 2019. A total of 89 blood samples were collected from febrile patients after informed consent and self-administered questionnaires were completed. The samples were centrifuged, and screened for anti-HCV antibodies using the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The results of this study were analysed statistically and out of the 89participants screened, only 5(5.61%) were positive for anti-HCV Ab. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the number of male and female patients positive and also other demographic characterization (age and temperature).
Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, febrile, ELISA, blood donors, Lagos.