Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C virus among HIV positive people: implication for anaemia and disease progression, Tamale, Ghana 2015

Abstract

Introduction : human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the three most common chronic viral infections globally. Since these viruses have common modes of transmission, co-infection is very common in certain populations. The co-infection of HBV, HCV with HIV accelerates disease progression and may complicate the management of patients infected with HIV. The study was conducted to determine seroprevalence of HBV and HCV among the HIV positive patients visiting the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH). Methods : a cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected HIV patients from TTH from June to December 2015. The subjects were made up of 319 HIV positive patients. We collected socio-demographic data of participants using structured pre-tested questionnaire. We collected and tested blood samples for haemoglobin and CD4+ counts. We tested serum for antibodies to HCV and Hepatitis B Surface Antigen. Data was analyzed descriptively. Continuous variables were expressed as means and standard deviation. Categorical variables were expressed as frequencies and relative frequencies. Data entry, cleaning and analysis were done using Microsoft Excel and Epi Info version 7. Results : of the 319 participants, 68% were females. Mean age of participants was 38.89 to 9.91. The seroprevalence of HBsAg and HCV in the study population was 15.36% and 8.46% respectively. However, 7(2.19%) had all three infections. Participants with viral co-infection had significantly lower haemoglobin and CD4 counts compared to those without co-infection. Conclusion : co-infection of HBV and HCV with HIV is prevalent in the study population and influences disease progression. Based on the evidence provided by this work, it is essential that all the HIV infected patients be screened for HBV and HCV co-infection to inform clinical care and guide public health interventions.