HBV and HIV Coinfections among Intending Blood Donors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

HBV is a major public health concern as it afflicts an estimated 350 million people worldwide. Studies are crucial and necessary to give us a better understanding of the epidemiology of the diseases in developing countries. A clearer picture of HBV/HIV prevalence in Africa is important in order to better educate the population and control these epidemics. This study estimated the seroprevalence of HBV/HIV coinfections among intending blood donors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. In this cohort study, we collected blood samples from 178 intending blood donors who were confirmed to be HIV-seropositive at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) from September 2012 to June 2013. Commercial ELISA was used to assay for the presence of HBsAg among these subjects. The overall prevalence was found to be 6.7%. Sex and education (P < 0.05) were the main correlates in this study. Age was not statistically correlated (P > 0.05) in this study. We also observed a high overall HBV/HIV co-infection seronegativity of 93.3% among these blood donors. Group-specific seronegativity was also high ranging from 86.4-100.0%. Although the age groups (13-20, 21-35, and 36-66 years) insignificantly differed, none of their variables showed statistical association with the seronegativity. Our findings underscore the importance of screening for HBV/HIV among blood donors in developing countries, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the epidemics are still growing and a major public health concern.

Serological Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus among Febrile Patients Attending a General Hospital in Emohua LGA, Rivers State, Nigeria

“…According to Tessema et al (2010), in a study that included patients aged 41 to 50, the condition was more prevalent; this conclusion is consistent with ours. These most recent findings were consistent with our earlier research in Ibadan, Nigeria (Okonko et al, 2012), which found a higher frequency in people over 40. This observation, however, differs from studies we conducted in Port Harcourt (Abeni et al, 2020) and Ugheli, Delta State, Nigeria (Ogbodo et al, 2015), which found greater prevalences in the age group >26 years.…”

Prevalence of Hepatitis D Virus among People Attending the Antiretroviral Clinic and the Effect on the Liver Function Enzymes

“…1, 93 HIV patients were tested for the presence of HBsAg of which 7( 7.5%) of them were positive to the HBsAg. The outcome from this study was higher than a previous study carried out by Baeka et al [13] in which 5.1% was recorded and that of Okonko et al [14] in which 6.1% was recorded in the same city. This may be attributed to the increase in some social habits such as body piercing, tattoo making which has become on the increase in recent times in Port Harcourt.…”

The Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C among HIV Positive Patients in Some Hospitals in Rivers State

“…Generally, as several studies reported and anticipated in different parts of the world, such co-infection differences could be due to differences in geographic regions, types of risk groups and the means of exposures involved [21,22]. The sero-prevalence rates of HIV-HCV co-infection in this study was 2.8% which is similar to other studies from different parts of the country with prevalence ranging from 2-6% [23][24][25][26].…”