Abstract

Introduction: Hepatitis B is a serious and common infectious disease of the liver, affecting millions of people throughout the world. According to WHO every year there are over 4 million acute clinical cases of Hepatitis B and about 25% carriers. one million people a year, die from chronic active hepatitis, cirrhosis or primary liver cancer. There have been very few hospital based population studies on prevalence of Hepatitis B from Kerala and It is useful to assess the magnitude of disease and dynamics of disease transmission for its prevention and control.

Aim of the study: To study the prevalence rate of Hepatitis B virus Infection in a tertiary care hospital.

Objectives of the study: 1. To determine Age and Sex distribution of HBsAg positives 2. To determine the prevalence rate of HBsAg among patients without liver disease.3. To determine the prevalence rate of HBsAg in patients with liver disease.

Materials and Methods: Blood samples from patients both IP/OP were subjected for HBsAg detection using third generation ELISA (ErbaLisa Kit). Test was carried out using standard procedure provided by the company in the Kit insert. The validity and interpretation of test performed was confirmed using positive control, negative control provided in the test kit.

Results: Among 7318 patients 256 were HBsAg positive thus showing prevalence rate of 3.5%. The study population have almost equal number of male and female population  and male gender was  found to be a risk factor for HBV infection ( P value < 0.001; unadjusted OR: 2.262, 95% CI -1.695 to 3.016). High HBsAg positivity was seen in age group 41-50years (4.8%) followed by 31-40years (4.2%). Prevalence of HBV infection was found to be significantly associated with age group (N=73; p value=<0.0001). Among 7014 patients without liver disease 185 of them were HBsAg positive thus showing prevalence of 2.6% and higher among males with prevalence rate of 3.4% whereas in females with 1.5%.  It is high in the age group 41-50 followed by 31-40. Among 304 patients presented with liver disease 71 were HBsAg positive thus showing prevalence rate  of 23.3% .

Conclusion: According to the present study it is noted that there is 3.5% prevalence for HBsAg and it is higher among males than females. HBV infection is higher in age group 41- 50 years. Prevalence of HBsAg among patients without liver disease is 2.67% and among patients with liver disease is 23.4%. This is correlating with other studies conducted in the state of Kerala and other parts of India like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and also other parts of the world.

Keywords: Hepatitis B, Liver Disease.