Assessment of Hepatitis B Vaccine Efficacy, Prevalence of Infection, and Risk Determinants among Expectant Mothers at Antenatal Care in Abyei, South Sudan

Abstract

Background: The silent but deadly Hepatitis B virus (HBV) poses a threat to world health. Particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), HBV is still underdiagnosed and not well controlled despite the availability of preventive measures like vaccines and antiviral medications. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Hepatitis B Vaccine, Seroprevalence Of Hepatitis B, And Associated Risk Factors Among Pregnant Mothers At Antenatal Clinics In Abyei, South Sudan. Methods: A hybrid type 1 implementation design was adopted in this study. In this study, both purposive and systematic random sampling were employed to recruit the study respondents. 382 prgenant mothers and 94 infants participated in the study. Mothers were tested for HBsAg and those positive were followed up. The infants born of positive mothers were tested after completing three-dose vaccination.  Both chi-square and multilinear regression analyses were employed. A significance level was set at a p-value of less or equal to 0.05. Results: The seroprevalence of HBV among expectant mothers was 19%. According to logistic regression analysis, respondents with a history of STIs had a 12 times higher chance of testing positive for Hepatitis B (A.O.R=12.848, p=0.0001) while pregnant women taking intravenous medication 2.3 times likely to test positive for Hepatitis B (p=0.004, A.O. R=2.3). Despite the availability of infants’ vaccination, vertical transmission of HBV from mother to child occurrence was 4.3%. Conclusion: Infection with Hepatitis B among pregnant women was 19%, which is a serious public health issue that needs immediate attention. This study emphasizes the need for focused interventions to reduce the risk factors of intravenous medication use and the presence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which are linked to increased risk.