Hepatitis C virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus coinfection among attendants of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centre and HIV follow up clinics in Mekelle Hospital

Abstract

IntroductionHepatitis C virus remains a large health care burden to the world. HIV and HCV coinfection is major global health concern worldwide. However, there is limited information on the prevalence of HCV/HIV co-infection in Ethiopia. The aim of the study was to assess the magnitude of HIV/HCV coinfection and the potential risk factors in attendants of voluntary counseling and testing centre and HIV follow up clinics of Mekelle hospital.MethodsA cross sectional seroprevalence survey of HCV infection was carried out on 300 HIV negative and positive subjects attending voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) center and HIV follow up clinics of Mekelle hospital, Ethiopia from December 2010-February 2011. Serum samples were tested for anti-HCV antibodies using immunochromatographic test.ResultsOf the 300 study participants, 126(42%) were HIV negative and 174(58%) HIV seropositive from VCT and HIV follow up clinics, respectively. The overall anti-HCV prevalence was 18(6.0%). There were no significant differences in HCV seroprevalence among the different categories of age and sex (p> 0.05). Of the 174 persons with HIV, 16 (9.2%) cases had antibodies to HCV, where as among 126 HIV negative subjects 2 (1.58%) were HCV seropositive (p= 0.006, OR= 6.28, 95% CI= 1.42-27.82).ConclusionAccordingly, there was a significant difference in sero-positivity of HCV between HIV positive and HIV negative participants. No apparent risk factor that caused HCV infection was inferred from this study.

Hepatitis viruses in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In contrast, unusually high HCV prevalence was reported in blood donors from Gondar (5.8%) in 2008 [9] and from Bahir Dar (13.3%) in 2007 [8]. A similar variation was also reported, among other groups, such as VCT clients [10–12], diabetic patients [58], antenatal care (ANC) [39] and medical waste handlers [32] (Table 4). Likewise, the magnitude of anti-HCV antibody from chronic liver disease patients showed a variable prevalence rate over time with high (37.8%) in 1995 [49] and low (2.7%) in 2014 [51] (Table 4).…”

“…Ababa73450 (6.8)[66]2008Hawassa40042(10.5)[11]2011A. Ababa50018 (3.6)[53]2011Mekele17416(9.2)[12]2012D/ Tabour3955(1.3)[67]2013A.Ababa38725(6.5)[68]2013Gondar40022(5.5)[64]2013Bahirdar26959(21.9) a [100]2014Bahirdar25314(5.5)[69]Others b 2006Gondar4806 (1.3)[39]2006A. Ababa122021 (1.7)[66]2008Hawassa40024(6.0)[11]2010Jimma30430 (9.9)[58]2010Jimma30010 (3.3)[58]2010Gamo HP5561 (0.2)[33]2011Gondar2002 (1.0)[32]2011Mekele1262 (1.6)[12]2012D/ Markos4236 (1.4)[10]

a Reported as 18.9% in the original work, but the 3.0% anti-HCV antibody reported as co-infected with HBsAg was summed up and became 21.9%

b Includes antenatal care attendants, HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) clients (HIV negative), VCT clients, diabetic patients, non-diabetic patients (controls for diabetic patients), out and inpatient department clients, healthcare workers and medical waste handlers, and VCT clients

Fig.

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“…4The meta-analysis and forest plot presentation of anti-HCV seroprevalence from 1993 to 2015. (Citations of studies used in the analysis from top to bottom: [9–12, 28, 32, 39, 49, 53–58, 64, 66–68, 98, 99]) …”

“…In this report and another similar study in Addis Ababa [65], HCV viraemia was reported 9.1 and 25.4%, respectively from anti-HCV antibody positive individuals. Overall, the HCV prevalence showed an increasing trend prevalence ( X 2  = 18.7, p  < 0.001) in HIV infected individuals than non-infected counterparts with a median prevalence of 6.5% (IQR = 4.2–9.9) [11, 12, 53, 55, 64, 66–69]. In the subgroup meta-analysis, the prevalence of anti-HCV antibody in HIV co-infected individuals was 5.5% (95% CI 3.8-7.8, p  < 0.001), respectively (Table 1 and Additional file 4).…”

Seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C viruses and risk factors in HIV infected children at the felgehiwot referral hospital, Ethiopia

“…Comparison was not possible in Ethiopian context owing to lack of HCV seroprevalence data in HIV infected children. Although, the study population is different, previous studies in Ethiopia reported 4.5 to 9.2% HCV seroprevalence in HIV positive adults [ 28 , 29 ]. In contrast, in other studies 13.5% and 10.3% seroprevalence of HCV were reported in HIV-infected children [ 16 , 30 ].…”