Hepatitis B Vaccination for Ghanaian Children

We are very glad to report that the first round of screening and vaccination was a huge success!

The week began with educational talks on Hepatitis B for year four students. They learned the symptoms, outcomes, treatment, and prevention of the disease, as well as what to expect on the screening and vaccination day. We were very happy to have Mr. Tahir, an administrator from Justab Hospital who is very passionate about spreading knowledge of Hepatitis B, speak to the students.

On Thursday June 12^th the CHF public health team and staff from Justab Hospital worked together to screen 99 students in fourth grade at DA School. 91 students tested negative, and were then given the first dose of the HBV vaccine.

Unfortunately eight students tested positive for Hepatitis B. We are currently running profiles on their blood samples to determine the stage of their infection, and are contacting their parents to help them receive the care they need. Interestingly, a prevalence of 8% in our sample is equivalent to the reported prevalence of HBV infection in Ghana as a whole.

Despite these numbers aligning, the experts at Justab Hospital described the positive infection rate as higher than usual for an elementary school. This fact is both reinforcing our decision to work with this particular school, and inspiring us to continue working hard to raise the money we need to vaccinate students in grades five and six.

We will be returning to DA School on June 25^th to vaccinate those students who were absent this week, as well as meet with the parents of children who screened positive for Hep B.

Thank you once again to everyone who donated – we couldn’t have done any of this without you.

Medaase pa,

Claire and Emily