Personal Statement on My Project Journey.I Got to know about Hepatitis B virus in detail.in my final year Project experience.
I am an undergraduate student studying Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) at the Federal University of Lafia. I began my academic journey at ICANN Mademoiselle in 2019 and started school fully in 2020. Due to the ASUU strike and the general nature of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, it took me some time to reach my final year, as academic activities were delayed repeatedly.
In my final year, I was asked to submit a project proposal. I submitted a few proposals, but unfortunately, they weren’t accepted. Eventually, my project supervisor suggested a topic for me: “Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B among Full-Time Students.”
I began conducting research on the topic, which involved a detailed study and a survey. The survey required the use of questionnaires. I selected a sample size of 150 students to evaluate and determine the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B virus among students at the university.To achieve this, I designed a questionnaire that covered sociodemographic data, awareness of Hepatitis B, vaccination status, and prevention strategies.
At first, I thought it would be an easy task. But getting a large number of students to willingly participate and allow testing was quite difficult. I had to convince many of them, guide them through the process, and ensure the questionnaires were properly filled. I also made sure that students from various faculties were included to ensure the survey was representative. Hepatitis has many types ranging from A,B,C and D, B and C happens to be the most deadly. This virus attacks the liver and cause liver cirrhosis,causes liver cancer that can lead to death.
In my study I discovered about 35% of students engaged in unprotected sex, about 55% students share sharp objects. About 9.1 % were infected by virus. Let me explain my topic in details; Seroprevalence means to check the proportion of individuals in a population that have specific antigens in their blood serum.This happens maybe because they have been vaccinated before or exposure to disease in the past.My aim was to known the prevalence percentage among the students.
My objectives was to check the students awareness about the virus, know how many have been vaccinated,how many have heard about it. It also cover's people who have been tested before and people who have lived with diagnosed persons before..
At first it was very tedious but I began enjoying and like the process. I help coach them on how to fill the questionnaire?
I sterilezed their hands before using a Lancet to prick and get their samples for further check. It took me many days, and even weeks to achieve this task.
Am very happy now because I could gladly tell someone I carried it out personally,I also know how hepatitis B virus is dangerous to humans and also encourage vaccination among students an people around me. One of my recommendation was that the school should fix orientation meeting to educate students about it,set up a vaccination campaign to see how many students will be vaccinated against it. I also encourage everyone out there to go check their status and also get vaccinated.
