Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection amongst Febrile Patients Attending Selected Public and Private Hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the leading reason for liver transplantation in the world; patients infected with HCV are at increased risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. The study was aimed at evaluating the seroprevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection amongst febrile patients attending selected public and private hospitals in Lagos state, Nigeria. The hospital based cross-sectional study took place between October and December 2019. A total of 89 blood samples were collected from febrile patients after informed consent and self-administered questionnaires were completed. The samples were centrifuged, and screened for anti-HCV antibodies using the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The results of this study were analysed statistically and out of the 89participants screened, only 5(5.61%) were positive for anti-HCV Ab. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the number of male and female patients positive and also other demographic characterization (age and temperature).