Muhammad Samdani Mehmood, Uzair Ahmad, Mushtaq Ahmad, Izaz Hussain, Muhammad Owais, Waseem Iqbal.
Intra-Familial Cases of Hepatitis B Virus and Their Associated Risk Factors of Transmission in District Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
National J Life Health Sci Jan ;2(1):6-11.

Introduction: Hepatitis - B Virus is a prevalent viral hepatitis, with high morbidity, and mortality worldwide. It affects 2 billion people, especially those with limited healthcare access and low socioeconomic status. It causes liver problems which may be acute or chronic. HBV is transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy (vertical transmission) and also transmitted from infected individuals to others (horizontal transmission). In our society, the family living system is a joint system, many people live in a single house which results in the sharing of different personal items. So, there are high chances of intra-familial cases of HBV. This study aimed to find out the intra-familial cases of HBV infections and their associated risk factors of transmission within a family in District Mardan. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of Pathology, Mardan Medical Complex, District Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. After ethical approval and informed consent from participants a total of 36 positive families of HBV were taken by using a non-probability convenience sampling method. Data was collected from positive individuals with the help of a pre-designed questionnaire. That data was analyzed through SPSS version 22. Results: Out of 36 families, 50% had no HBV-positive members, while 50% had positive individuals. There were 18 households (50%) with only one member positive for HBV, 12 families (33.3%) with two members, 4 families (11.1%) with three individuals, and 2 families (5.6%) with four members. There were three major risk factors present, which resulted in intra-family HBV transmission. There were 7 (19.4%) families where Vertical transmission was the main risk factor. 7 were (19.4%) due to the use of personal hygiene goods, whereas 4 families (11.1%) were due to unsafe sexual intercourse among couples (husband/wife). Conclusion: There was an equal chance of the hepatitis B virus to affect only one member of a family or have transmission to other members within a family. Multiple risk factors are involved in the transmission of HBV in a family but most of the cases were due to vertical transmission, use of personal hygienic items, and unsafe sexual intercourse between (couples)wife and husband in district Mardan, Pakistan. Key words: Hepatitis-B virus, Intra-familial, vertical transmission, Mardan, Risk factor

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