Prevalence and risk factors for hepatitis B viral infection among pregnant women attending a tertiary health care centre in Benin City

Hepatitis B (HBV) viral infection is a disease of public health importance, with about 360 million people reported to be chronically infected worldwide and an estimated 600,000 people dying yearly from HBV-related complications such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At the same time, few adults who contract the infection become chronically infected (<5%), and most neonates infected by vertical transmission become chronically infected (80-90%). This study was designed to determine the prevalence of HBV infection and the associated risk factors among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Nigeria. This cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2022 and August 2023 among women attending the ante-natal clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. The prevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at UBTH was 9.2%. While the infection was more common among women who were unvaccinated for HBV, those who had more than one lifetime sexual partner, shared sharps and had previous spontaneous or induced miscarriages, there was no statistically significant association between any of these risk factors and the hepatitis B status of the participants. Hepatitis B viral infection is highly endemic among pregnant women in Benin City.