학술논문
Low seroprevalence of hepatitis C among children at the Princess Marie Louis Children' s Hospital in Accra, Ghana.
Document Type
Academic Journal
Author
Duedu KO; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.; Asomah D; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.; Kugbemanya S; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.; Adiku TK; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
Source
Publisher: African Field Epidemiology Network Country of Publication: Uganda NLM ID: 101517926 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1937-8688 (Electronic) NLM ISO Abbreviation: Pan Afr Med J Subsets: MEDLINE
Subject
Language
English
Abstract
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.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(Copyright: Kwabena Obeng Duedu et al.)
Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(Copyright: Kwabena Obeng Duedu et al.)