TY - JOUR
T1 - Low seroprevalence of hepatitis c among children at the princess marie louis children’s hospital in accra, Ghana
AU - Duedu, Kwabena Obeng
AU - Asomah, Donzala
AU - Kugbemanya, Seraphine
AU - Adiku, Theophilus Korku
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Kwabena Obeng Duedu et al. P.
PY - 2021/9/1
Y1 - 2021/9/1
N2 - Hepatitis C is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis and causes severe health problems in areas where prevalence is high. Ghana is noted for a relatively high sero-prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection. However, there is very little data on prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among children in Ghana, and what data is available indicates very low prevalence rate. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the sero-prevalence and associated pre-disposing risk factor for HCV infection among children attending the Princes Marie Louis Children's Hospital in Accra. Two hundred archived blood samples from a previous study were retrieved and tested for the presence of HCV antibodies using a dipstick test kit. Out of the 200 samples tested, one (1) tested positive for HCV antibodies giving a prevalence of 0.5% among the study group. The results show that there is potentially a very low prevalence of hepatitis C among Ghanaian children. Hence, the higher prevalence among adults usually seen is often due to infection later in life. Obtaining an appropriate vaccine early in life could thus help prevent people from getting infected in later life.
AB - Hepatitis C is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis and causes severe health problems in areas where prevalence is high. Ghana is noted for a relatively high sero-prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection. However, there is very little data on prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among children in Ghana, and what data is available indicates very low prevalence rate. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the sero-prevalence and associated pre-disposing risk factor for HCV infection among children attending the Princes Marie Louis Children's Hospital in Accra. Two hundred archived blood samples from a previous study were retrieved and tested for the presence of HCV antibodies using a dipstick test kit. Out of the 200 samples tested, one (1) tested positive for HCV antibodies giving a prevalence of 0.5% among the study group. The results show that there is potentially a very low prevalence of hepatitis C among Ghanaian children. Hence, the higher prevalence among adults usually seen is often due to infection later in life. Obtaining an appropriate vaccine early in life could thus help prevent people from getting infected in later life.
KW - Cancer
KW - Children
KW - Hepatitis C virus
KW - Liver cirrhosis
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U2 - 10.11604/pamj.2021.40.158.29524
DO - 10.11604/pamj.2021.40.158.29524
M3 - Article
C2 - 34970400
SN - 1937-8688
VL - 40
JO - Pan African Medical Journal
JF - Pan African Medical Journal
M1 - 158
ER -