The approval of vaccines for emergency use signifies a great milestone to end the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less than 2% of the global vaccines have been administered in Africa, putting the continent in a precarious situation in the eventuality of another wave that may consume its health system. There is still an enormous task in Africa in the face of vaccine nationalism. In most countries, vaccine acquisition and deployment have been suboptimal. Leaving out Africa in the race to achieve global herd immunity may be catastrophic. Stakeholders must continue engagement to ensure a successful deployment of the vaccines on the continent. There is a need to build capacity in Africa for rapid vaccine development and deployment in the long term.

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IntroductionEvolution of phenotypic diversity among viruses occurs as an escape mechanism against host immune pressure or drug selective pressure. Among HIV/HBV co-infected individuals, various HBV basal core promoter (BCP)/precore (PC) region molecular mutants had been reported with associated phenotypic defect in HBeAg production. The emergence of HBeAg negative variants of HBV in HIV co-infected individuals have profound implication on the diagnosis, management and prognosis of this subset of individuals. This includes delayed clearance of HBV, early development of adverse hepatic events such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, little is known about HBV BCP/PC region genomic heterogeneity in HIV/HBV co-infected patients in Nigeria. Therefore, this study was focussed on investigating evidence of precore/core region genomic variability among HIV/HBV co-infected patients in Nigeria.Materials and methodsA total of 40 patients (20 HIV/HBV co-infected and 20 HBV mono-infected samples) were enrolled into the study and subsequently tested for HBsAg, HBeAg and HBeAb using specific Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The BCP/PC genome regions (nucleotides 1653-1959) were amplified using a nested PCR assay and then subjected to BCP/PC mutational analysis in genome sites affecting HBeAg expression especially at the BCP transcriptional and PC Translational stop codon sites.ResultsOverall, 5(83.3%) of the six exploitable sequences after analysis showed various BCP/PC mutations. Only 1(16.6%) sequence from an HIV/HBV co-infected patient had the BCP transcriptional (double mutation; A1762T/G1764A) mutant. Analysis of the PC translational stop codon showed 4 (66.6%) having the G1896A mutants while 33.3% (2) had G1899A mutants.ConclusionThis study has broadened the available evidence of BCP/PC region molecular mutants among HIV/HBV co-infected patients in Nigeria and assessed the difference of mutation prevalence in comparison with HBV mono-infected cohort. We therefore recommend that HIV/HBV co-infected patients be routinely screened for hepatitis B virus precore region mutants to improve their patient outcome.

Introduction: Hepatitis B virus(HBV) infects about 2 billion people globally and accounts for mortality of about 800,000 from liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 70% of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) global burden. HIV/HBV coinfection results in early development of HBV complications, alterations of serological biomarkers of HBV. Methods : Two hundred and fifty patients with HIV/AIDS were screened for HBV and 20 (8%) were identified. Same number of HBV mono-infected individuals were recruited into the study and subsequently, HBV serological profiles which includes HBsAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, HBeAb,HBcAbIgM and HBcAbIgG were assayed using HBV ELISA kits.Result: Mean age of patients in the HBV/HIV cohort was 45.5 years while the HBV mono-infected infected cohort was 30.5 years. Majority of the HBV/HIV co-infected individuals were females (85%). Frequency of HBeAg among HIV/HBV co-infected cohort was 25% and 15% for HBV mono-infected , while the frequency of HBeAb was higher (60%) among cohort of HBV/HIV coinfected patients in comparison with the HBV mono-infected cohorts(50%). Two patients among the HIV/HBV co-infected cohort have the isolated anti-HBcAg serologic pattern. Conclusion:The study broadened the available evidence of comparative serologic profiles of Hepatitis B virus between cohorts of HBV/HIV co-infected individuals and HBV mono-infected patients in Nigeria.

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Introduction: Hepatitis B virus(HBV) infects about 2 billion people globally and accounts for mortality of about 800,000 from liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 70% of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) global burden. HIV/HBV co-infection results in early development of HBV complications, alterations of serological biomarkers of HBV. Methods : Two hundred and fifty patients with HIV/AIDS were screened for HBV and 20 (8%) were identified. Same number of HBV mono-infected individuals were recruited into the study and subsequently, HBV serological profiles which includes HBsAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, HBeAb,HBcAbIgM and HBcAbIgG were assayed using HBV ELISA kits. Result: Mean age of patients in the HBV/HIV cohort was 45.5 years while the HBV mono-infected infected cohort was 30.5 years. Majority of the HBV/HIV co-infected individuals were females (85%). Frequency of HBeAg among HIV/HBV co-infected cohort was 25% and 15% for HBV mono-infected , while the frequency of HBeAb was higher (60%) among cohort of HBV/HIV co-infected patients in comparison with the HBV mono-infected cohorts(50%). Two patients among the HIV/HBV co-infected cohort have the isolated anti-HBcAg serologic pattern. Conclusion: The study broadened the available evidence of comparative serologic profiles of Hepatitis B virus between cohorts of HBV/HIV co-infected individuals and HBV mono-infected patients in Nigeria.

The pandemic of Coronavirus disease 19 is not abating since the outbreak began in December 2019. Africa is currently experiencing a surge after an initial low incidence and nosocomial infections could be contributing to this. A dominant factor responsible for this is a weak healthcare system because of many years of neglect due to abysmal budgetary allocation to the sector. The testing capacity for COVID-19 diagnosis in Africa is grossly inadequate coupled with a severe shortage of personal protective equipment and inadequate infectious diseases expert. These factors exposed the frontline health workers and patients to the hazard of nosocomial infection with the attendants´ morbidity and mortality. Deliberate efforts need to be made toward reducing nosocomial COVID-19 infection.