Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, and co-infections among antenatal women in a tertiary institution in South East, Nigeria

Abstract

Background:Sexually transmitted infections and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS are a major public health concern owing to both their prevalence and propensity to affect offspring through vertical transmission.Aim:The aim was to determine the seroprevalence of HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), syphilis, and co-infections among antenatal women in Enugu, South-East Nigeria.Materials and Methods:A retrospective study of antenatal women at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, South-East Nigeria from 1st May 2006 to 30th April 2008. A pretested data extraction form was used to obtain data on sociodemographic variables and screening test results from the antenatal records. The analysis was done with SPSS version 17 (Chicago, IL, USA).Results:A total of 1239 antenatal records was used for the study. The seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, and syphilis among the antenatal women were 12.4% (154/1239), 3.4% (42/1239) 2.6 (32/1239) 0.08% (1/1239), respectively. The HIV/HBV and HIV/HCV co-infection prevalence rates were 0.24% (3/1239), 0.16% (2/1239), respectively. There was no HBC and HCV co-infection among both HIV positive and negative antenatal women. There was no statistically significant difference in HBV and HCV infection between the HIV positive and negative antenatal women. The only woman that was seropositive for syphilis was also positive to HIV.Conclusion:The seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, and syphilis is still a challenge in Enugu. Community health education is necessary to reduce the prevalence of this infection among the most productive and economically viable age bracket.

Prevalence, awareness and risk factors associated with Hepatitis B infection among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at Mbagathi District Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya

“…Similar trend was found in this study where higher positivity 5.5% was detected among unemployed pregnant women. This is similar to study by Ikeako et al in west Nigeria which indicated that unemployed pregnant women formed bulk of positive cases [ 31 ]. This may be explained by the low economic status initiating women to multiple sexual partnerships and unprotected sex thus making them vulnerable to STIs [ 21 ].…”

“…In this study majority of the women were sexually active thus predisposing them to risk of acquiring HBV infection [ 30 , 31 ]. A higher rate of HBsAg was detected in age group 20-24 years (4.3%) which is the second peak of HBV infection in Kenya [ 8 ]).…”

High sero-prevalence of hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus infections among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Temeke municipal health facilities, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a cross sectional study

“…This rate was higher than that reported previously from a national hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania [12]. Furthermore, the prevalence of HBV/HIV co-infection among pregnant women found in our study was higher than the previous reports in Nigeria (0.24%), Ethiopia (0.6%) and Cameroon (1.5%) [24, 33, 34]. However, the prevalence of HBsAg in the current study was lower than that reported from a recent study among pregnant women in South Africa (3.1%) [35].…”

Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Its Risk Factors among Patients Attending Rwanda Military Hospital, Rwanda

“…Prevalence of HCV infection varies across different regions and populations [ 25 ]. In Africa, prevalence of HCV infection reported so far has focused on a specific group of the population mostly relying on the error-prone antibody testing method [ 9 , 10 , 26 , 27 ]. In this study, participants were first screened against the presence of HCV antibodies using rapid diagnostic strips.…”