Low Rate of HBV Vaccination Status and E-Antigenaemia among CHBVI Patients in North-Central Nigeria

Introduction: Hepatitis B is a leading cause of end-stage liver disease in our environment. A very helpful means of its prevention is HBV vaccination. This study aimed to assess the level of compliance with HBV vaccination among adults in our environment by using the vaccination status of CHBVI patients as a surrogate marker and seeing if their status of HBV vaccination is related to e-antigen expression. Method: An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information about the patients. A Hepatitis B panel was obtained using the LumiQuick HBV-5 panel Test Card. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Means/medians were used to express numerical data. Cross-tabulation was used to compare categorical variables. Results: One hundred and seventy-six (176) chronic hepatitis B patients participated in this study. Less than half (37.6%) were females. The mean age of the participants was 39.52(SD 11.57) years. Patients with complete vaccination were 4.5%, incomplete vaccination 6.4%, none vaccinated 89.2%. The proportion of those with no vaccination and complete vaccination was not significantly different (p=0.85) in females (89.8%; 5.1%) and males (88.8%; 4.1%). Educational level was seen to affect vaccination status. Those with no formal education had no vaccination at all. No one with primary education had complete vaccination. Those with a secondary level of education had 28.7% complete vaccination. Tertiary education holders had the most proportion with complete vaccination (71.4%), p=0.63 Of all the patients who participated in the study, e-antigenemia was found in 12.4% while 87.6% were e-antigen negative. Sixty-three per cent (63%) were e-antibody positive. Many (60.9%) had a combination of eAg-/eAb+. But as much as 24.3% were negative for both e-antigen and e-antibody (eAg-/eAb-). AST level was the only significant predictor of HBeAg status, p-= 0.016 Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of pre-cure/core mutant HBV in North central Nigeria. The majority of adults in our environment are hepatitis B virus non-vaccinated and even those who start the process of vaccination rarely complete it.