Hepatitis B infection more prevalent among Port Harcourt beauty service professionals

A comparative cross-sectional study conducted in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, found that hepatitis B virus infection was substantially more prevalent among beauty service professionals than among healthcare workers. Testing of 440 participants between August 2024 and February 2025 identified infection in 16.8% of beauty service professionals, compared with 3.2% of healthcare workers. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.0001), while nail technicians had the highest prevalence within the beauty service group, at 33.3%. These findings describe associations in a Port Harcourt occupational sample and do not establish that beauty service work directly causes infection.

The study included 220 healthcare workers and 220 beauty service professionals selected through multistage sampling. Researchers collected data with structured interviewer-administered questionnaires and tested blood samples for hepatitis B serological markers. Initial screening used the OnSite HBV-5 Rapid Test, and samples positive for hepatitis B surface antigen, or HBsAg, were confirmed with the BioELISA HBsAg 3.0 kit. The investigators applied descriptive statistics, chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests, and logistic regression, with p ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant. Only seven healthcare workers tested positive, leaving too few infection events for a feasible occupation-specific multivariable analysis in that group.

The two occupational groups had different distributions of hepatitis B serological markers. Among healthcare workers, the most common infection pattern was simultaneous positivity for HBsAg and hepatitis B e antigen, or HBeAg, observed in 1.8% of the group. Among beauty service professionals, the predominant pattern was positivity for HBsAg, HBeAg antibody and hepatitis B core antibody, recorded in 12.3%. The study therefore identified a markedly different overall infection burden and serological distribution in the beauty service sample, although the supplied findings do not provide enough information to interpret the clinical or virological significance of the marker patterns in detail.

In the pooled multivariable analysis across both occupational groups, two factors were independently associated with hepatitis B infection. Participants who reported five or more sharps-related injuries during the preceding year had 4.86 times the adjusted odds of infection (95% confidence interval, 2.34–10.20; p < 0.0001). Poor hepatitis B preventive practice was also associated with higher adjusted odds of infection, with an odds ratio of 5.93 (95% confidence interval, 1.78–25.50; p = 0.0082). These figures represent adjusted statistical associations from observational data, not experimental estimates of the causal effects of injuries or preventive behavior. The supplied study abstract also does not identify the precise reference category used for the injury comparison.

Within the beauty service group, nail technician status was independently associated with infection in a group-specific multivariable analysis, with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.50 (95% confidence interval, 1.90–11.10; p = 0.0008). In the healthcare-worker group, univariable analyses showed associations between infection and inconsistent personal protective equipment use, frequent sharps-related injuries, absence of occupational safety training, multiple sexual partners, tattooing, poor knowledge of hepatitis B, negative attitudes toward prevention and poor preventive practice, all with p values below 0.05. Because the small number of infected healthcare workers prevented a feasible multivariable analysis, these univariable findings cannot be treated as independently established determinants. The investigators concluded that the results highlight the need for targeted screening, vaccination, occupational safety training and infection-prevention interventions, but the study itself did not test whether any such intervention reduced infection.

Subject of Research: Occupational prevalence and determinants of hepatitis B infection in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Article Title: Prevalence, serological profiles, and determinants of hepatitis B infection among healthcare workers and beauty service professionals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria: a comparative study

Article References: Mike-Ogburia, M. I., Alozie, F. C., Oboro, I. L., & Maduka, O. (2026). Prevalence, serological profiles, and determinants of hepatitis B infection among healthcare workers and beauty service professionals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria: a comparative study. BMC Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-026-14292-5

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12879-026-14292-5

Keywords: hepatitis B, HBV, beauty service professionals, healthcare workers, occupational exposure, sharps injuries, nail technicians, serological profiles, Nigeria, cross-sectional study, Prevalence, serological