Abstract
Introduction: The safety issue of mass surgeries in areas of higher endemicity for HIV, HBV and HCV is raised. Objective: The objective was to determine the frequency of HIV, HBV and HCV among people undergoing a cataract surgery during humanitarian surgical mission. Patients and Method: This prospective study was conducted at CHU Owendo from April to September 2018. Cataract-operated patients were the targeted population. Rapid screening tests were used for diagnosis. Parameters such as age, sex, frequency of HIV, HBV, HCV, and co-infections were analyzed. Sero-positivity was correlated with age and sex. A total of 1403 patients were included. Statistical analysis was performed with EPI Info 7.2 (Chi2 uncorrected, Mann-Whitnney and Wilcoxon, p < 0.05). Results: Patients mean age was 66.3 ± 11.6 years; 42.1% of them were male. With 18.0% of the study population, HIV-positive people had mean age of 78.4 ± 9.3 years, compared to 61.2 ± 10.1 years for sero-negative (p < 0.001). HIV prevalence was 4.6% (95% CI = [3.7 - 5.9]), HBV was 2.9% (95% CI = [2.1 - 3.9]), and HCV was 11.8% (95% CI = [10.2 - 13.6]). Co-infections occurred in 1.2% (95% CI = [0.8 - 1.9]) of patients undergoing surgery. Conclusion: This study showed high prevalence of HIV, HBV and HCV among patients undergoing cataract surgery with predominance for HCV. Viral co-infections prevalence was also significant.
Highlights
The safety issue of mass surgeries in areas of higher endemicity for HIV, HBV and HCV is raised
The objective was to determine the frequency of HIV, HBV and HCV among people undergoing a cataract surgery during humanitarian surgical mission
This study showed high prevalence of HIV, HBV and HCV among patients undergoing cataract surgery with predominance for HCV
Summary
The safety issue of mass surgeries in areas of higher endemicity for HIV, HBV and HCV is raised. Objective: The objective was to determine the frequency of HIV, HBV and HCV among people undergoing a cataract surgery during humanitarian surgical mission. Rapid screening tests were used for diagnosis Parameters such as age, sex, frequency of HIV, HBV, HCV, and co-infections were analyzed. Conclusion: This study showed high prevalence of HIV, HBV and HCV among patients undergoing cataract surgery with predominance for HCV. In order to reduce prevalence of cataract-related blindness and meet Vision 2020 objectives, many African countries are increasingly using humanitarian surgical missions. This practice provides eye care to a large number of low-resource populations. The number of people infected by HBV in 2015 was estimated at 257 million and 71 million for HCV [3]
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