Sero-prevalence of hepatitis C virus among blood donors in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV), one of the causative agents of viral hepatitis was investigated. One hundred and sixty-seven (167) blood samples from donors which were sero-negative to hepatitis B virus markers were screened for presence of HCV IgM antibodies using a third generation
ELISA kit. Out of the 167 sample tested 14 (8.4%) were positive for anti-HCV with the highest prevalence rate recorded in the age group 30-39 years. There is no statistically significant association between the
sex and the rate of HCV infection (p0.05).