Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C among Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Patients at a District Hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections have been a major public health problem. HIV patients with HBV and HCV infection are at high risk of liver diseases which is associated with increased mortality. This study aims at determining the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), HCV antibodies and HBV antibodies (anti-HBsAg) among HIV seropositive adults attending care and treatment clinic at Sengerema district hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania. A cross-sectional hospital based study was conducted between February and March 2017 among 243 HIV adult patients at Sengerema designated district hospital, Mwanza, Tanzania. Socio-demographic and other relevant information were collected using pre-tested questionnaires. Detection of HBsAg and HCV antibodies was done by commercial rapid immunochromatographic test while the detection of anti-HBsAg was done using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Data were analyzed by using STATA version 13. The median age of the study participants was 43, interquartile range (IQR): 37 - 51 years. The majority 172 (70.8) of study participants were female and the majority (88%) of participants had CD4 count of greater than 200 counts/μl. The prevalence of HBsAg, HCV antibodies and anti-HBsAg were 26/243 (10.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 7 - 14), 20/243 (8.2%, 95% CI: 4.7 - 11.6) and (100/243) 41.2%, 95% CI: 35 - 47, respectively. Co-infection with HCV (OR: 4.45, 95% CI: 1.51 - 13.21, P = 0.007) was independenlty found to predict HbsAg positivity. History of blood transfusion (OR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.08 - 5.06, P = 0.028) was significantly associated with anti-HBsAg among HIV infected individuals while, the rate of anti-HBsAg was found to decrease by 2.02 IU/L in a year increase in age. About one tenth of HIV infected individuals are co-infected with HCV and HBV with more than one third being positive for anti-HBsAg. There is a paramount need to emphasize the need for regular screening and proper management of these patients to reduce associated complications in resource limited countries where these infections are common.