High seroprevalence and associated risk factors for hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women living with HIV in Mtwara region, Tanzania

Abstract

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to be a global public health problem. As of 2019, there were 296 million people chronically infected with HBV, resulting in nearly 1 million deaths from decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. The seroprevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women in Tanzania was reported to range between 3.8 and 8.03%. However, data on HBV infection in HIV-infected pregnant women is limited. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence and associated risk factors for HBV infection among HIV-infected pregnant women in selected health facilities in the Mtwara region. This was a health facility-based quantitative cross-sectional study conducted for three months (from February to April 2022). A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from the study participants. A total of 4 ml of blood was collected for HBV screening and confirmatory tests using rapid diagnostic tests and automated Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) tests, respectively. The logistic regression model was used to identify significant variables for HBV infection.ResultsTwo hundred and twenty (n = 220) pregnant women living with HIV were enrolled in this study, with a median age of 32.7 years (Interquartile range (IQR) 27.6–37.6). The seroprevalence of HBV, chronic, and acute HBV infections were 10.5%, 10.0%, and 0.5%, respectively. We found that the multiparous women [aOR 11.99: 95% CI 1.11–129.01, p = 0.040], being infected with syphilis [aOR 27.65: 95% CI 9.07–84.30, p < 0.001], and having HIV viral load of 1000 copies/ml and above [aOR 16.00: 95% CI 1.70–150.63, p = 0.015], are factors independently associated with HBV infection.ConclusionsThe overall seroprevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women was 10.5%, which is high endemicity. Furthermore, the study revealed that having more than four children, a high HIV-1 viral load of ≥ 1000cp/ml, and being infected with syphilis are significant risk factors associated with HBV infection among pregnant women living with HIV in the Mtwara region.