Towards the complete eradication of mother-to-child HIV/HBV coinfection at Saint Camille Medical Centre in Burkina Faso, Africa

Abstract

The coinfection of HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and their vertical transmission constitute a public health problem in sub-Saharan countries of Africa. The objectives of this research are: i) identify the pregnant women that are coinfected by HIV and HBV at Saint Camille Medical Centre; ii) use three antiretroviral drugs (zidovudine, nevirapine and lamivudine) to interrupt the vertical transmission of HIV and HBV from infected mothers; and iii) use the PCR technique to diagnose children who are vertically infected by these viruses in order to offer them an early medical assistance. At Saint Camille Medical Centre, 115 pregnant women, aged from 19 to 41 years, were diagnosed as HIV-positive and, among them, 14 coinfected with HBV. They had at least 32 weeks of amenorrhoea and all of them received the HAART, which contained lamivudine. Two to six months after childbirth, the babies underwent PCR diagnosis for HIV and HBV. The results revealed that, among these mothers, 64.4% were housewives, 36.5% were illiterates, and only 1.7% had a university degree. The rate of vertical transmission of HIV and HBV was 0.0% (0/115) and 21.4% (3/14), respectively. The 3 mothers who transmitted the HBV to their children had all HBsAg, HbeAg, and HBV DNA positive. An antiretroviral therapy that in addition to zidovudine and nevirapine includes lamivudine could, as in the present study, block or reduce the vertical transmission in HIV positive pregnant women who are coinfected with HBV.

Prevention of mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission in Burkina Faso: evaluation of vertical transmission by PCR, molecular characterization of subtypes and determination of antiretroviral drugs resistance

“…In addition to coinfections ( 21 , 22 ) and late treatment ( 20 ), the emergence of resistant HIV strains to ARV drugs resulting in high viral load is also an important factor in HIV vertical transmission. Furthermore, although the sample size is limited, in our study we found that the transmission rate is higher among women with a low rate of CD4 and high viral load.…”

Analysis of residual perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and of genetic variants in human immunodeficiency virus and HBV co-infected women and their offspring

“…Full eradication of HBV transmission in highly viremic women may be achieved using additional interventions such as providing anti-HBV active drug(s) during the third trimester of pregnancy to decrease HBV DNA load of either wild-type or variants virus. 33–35 …”

HBV/HIV co-infection and APOBEC3G polymorphisms in a population from Burkina Faso

“…In Sub-Saharan Africa HIV-1/HBV frequency varies from 0 % to >28.4 % [ 8 , 9 ]. HIV-1 infection has been associated with a high prevalence of HBV infection in Burkina Faso [ 10 , 11 ]. Co-infection of HIV-1 and HBV is due to the common routes of transmission and increases the morbidity and mortality of the two infections.…”