COINFECTION OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS ANTIGENS AND HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS AMONGST PATIENTS ATTENDING CENTRAL HOSPITAL BENIN CITY, EDO STATE

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to ascertain the prevalence and coinfection of hepatitis B virus antigen (HBs Ag) and Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) amongst patients attending central hospital Benin city, Edo state. Hepatitis B virus is an infectious inflammatory disease of the liver.HIV is a member of the retrovirus family that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans. The study was conducted on 323 blood samples randomly collected from patients attending central hospital Benin city using the Rapid test strip to test for HIV and the Enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay method (ELISA) to test for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) virus. A total of 127 (39.3%) patients tested positive to HBsAg and 52(6.8%) tested positive to HIV. there was a coinfection of 22(6.8%) between HBs Ag and HIV. Agegroup 30-39 had the highest prevalence with 38(11.8%) patients testing positive to HBsAg and 17(5.3%) positive to HIV. In the demographic factor, females had the highest prevalence rates with 91(28.2%) positive to HBsAg and 42(13.0%) positive to HIV.This study confirms occurrence of co-infections of HIV and HBV in the study population. There is a need for health promotion awareness campaign to educate the general public on the danger, mode of transmission and risk factors associated with HBV infection and the need for vaccination.