Higher prevalence of anti‐HCV antibodies among HIV‐positive compared to HIV‐negative inhabitants of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Serum samples (n = 4,593) collected in 1994 as part of a representative household community survey of the population of Addis Ababa who were 0-49 years old were tested for hepatitis C (HCV) antibodies. A third generation ELISA was used for primary screening and a line immunoblot assay for confirmation. HCV antibody prevalence was 0.9% (95% CI, 0.6-1.2%) and higher among HIV-positive compared to HIV-negative individuals (4.5% vs. 0.8%, respectively, P < 0.001). Similar higher prevalence of HCV antibodies was seen among HIV-positive compared to HIV-negative antenatal care attenders (2.9% vs. 0.8%, respectively, P = 0.003, n = 1,725), and sex workers (5.3% vs. 1.3%, respectively, P = 0.02, n = 383). Such association between HCV and HIV infection has not been described previously in Africa. After stratification by HIV status, HCV prevalence among women of the general population was identical to that of sex workers, suggesting that HCV sexual transmission is not common in this population and that HIV infection does not enhance susceptibility to HCV sexual transmission.

Assessment of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections and associated risk factors in HIV infected patients at Debretabor hospital, South Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

“…On the other hand, previous studies conducted in Addis Ababa and Hawassa city had reported no significant association between HCV and blood transfusion history among HIV infected patients [26,27] . The difference might be due to patients infected with HIV have lower hemoglobin value probably requiring frequent blood transfusion without following good screening methods of blood donors such as ELISA technique and HCV RNA in the study area.…”

“…For example, the 10.5% and 4.5% anti HCV prevalence reported in Hawassa city [27] and Addis Ababa [26] among HIV infected patients, respectively. This might be due to the difference in diagnostic methods in which these studies were carried out by ELISA method but in this study by serological antibody.…”

“…Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections has been studied in different parts of Ethiopia [6,7,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31] . The distribution of the viruses and risk factors for their transmission have not been well addressed in varying community groups like HIV infected patients.…”

Bacterial Contamination of Stored Blood Ready for Transfusion at a Referral Hospital in Ethiopia

“…Each unit of blood was mixed before sampling and the tubing was cleaned with 70% alcohol and cut with sterile scissors to remove any clotted blood. 5ml of blood was drawn from the closest end to the bag with a sterile syringe and needle and dispensed into 15ml of Brain-Heart Infusion (BHI) broth [22].…”

“…After overnight incubation, sterile loopfuls of broth were sub-cultured on to blood agar and MacConkey agar plates and incubated aerobically for 18-24 hours at 37°C. The identities of bacteria growing on the culture plates were determined by colonial morphology, Gram and spore stains; as well as standard biochemical tests [22].…”