Epstein Barr virus nuclear antigens among University Students in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Several diseases are associated with Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and they can be life threatening especially in immunocompromised individuals. Moreover, there is no well-established EBV prevention and control strategies in Nigeria. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the prevalence of Epstein Barr Nuclear Antigen (EBNA) IgM antibody among university students in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. A hospital based cross-sectional survey was adopted to randomly analyze 91 students attending lectures in University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used to analyze EBNA IgM antibody in the samples obtained. Chi-square analysis was used to determine the association of the infection with socio-demographic factors. Of the 91 subjects, 3(3.2%) were seropositive for EBNA IgM antibody while 88(96.7%) were observed to be seronegative for EBNA IgM antibody. Sera EBNA IgM positivity was highest in age group 20-25 years (4.7%), single (3.2%), male (3.8%), students (3.9), sexually inactive (4.0%), oral sex (2.4%), non-Anal sex (3.4%), never using condoms (5.0%), dry kissing (11.1%), Non-smokers (4.0%), no history of blood transfusion (3.3%), no history of tissue transplant (3.2%), no history of surgery (3.2%). This study confirms the presence of Epstein Barr virus primary infection among university students in Port Harcourt, and an onward risk of Infectious mononucleosis. This comes with the responsibility of establishing surveillance programs for detection, treatment and control of EBV in Port Harcourt and Nigeria at large.