Prevalence of cytomegalovirus IgG antibodies among women in Buguma, Rivers State, Nigeria
1 Virus & Genomics Research Unit, Department of Microbiology, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
2 Virology & Immunology Research Unit, Department of Applied Microbiology, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria.
3 Community Health Nursing Unit, Department of Nursing Sciences, Edo State University, Iyamo, Nigeria
Research Article
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Updates, 2023, 05(01), 014–023.
Article DOI: 10.53430/ijmru.2023.5.1.0052
Publication history:
Received on 27 January 2023; revised on 22 March 2023; accepted on 24 March 2023
Abstract:
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous virus that belongs to the family of herpes virus. CMV causes serious illness in immuno-compromised patients and congenitally infected neonates. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of the immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies to cytomegalovirus among women in Buguma-City, Rivers State, Nigeria. Blood samples were collected from 93 women from Buguma-City Health Centre between February and August 2022. Serum obtained from the blood samples was examined for CMV IgG antibodies by ELISA method. Among the 93 women investigated, 89 (95.7%) were seropositive for Cytomegalovirus IgG antibodies. A total prevalence rate of 100.0% was recorded in the age group of 20 to 30 years, with the highest prevalence, while 89.5% was found in the age group of 31 to 56 years. Among the 38 single women, all were found to be seropositive (100.0%) for Cytomegalovirus antibodies, while 51 (92.7%) of the 55 married women were seropositive. The women with a secondary level of education had a higher prevalence of 97.0% than those with a tertiary level of education, which had a prevalence of 95.0%. The unemployed women had a higher prevalence (95.8%) than the employed, which had a prevalence of 95.7%. The results were statistically significant with age (p = 0.01). There was no significant association (p>0.05) between CMV infection, marital status, education and occupation. The high prevalence of CMV infection observed in this study indicates that the virus is prevalent in the study area. Therefore, routine screening for CMV infection is advisable for all antenatal women in the State.
Keywords:
Anti-CMV; IgG Antibodies; Women; Buguma; Nigeria
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Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0