Abstract:
Background: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly decreased HIV/AIDS-related morbidity and mortality.
However, globally, many people living with HIV die from non-AIDS related illnesses including liver diseases which
occur partly due to co-infection with HBV and or HCV. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence
of HBV and HCV among HIV infected individuals receiving care from three different hospitals in the Central Region
of Ghana.
Methods: This research was a case-case study. The population consisted of ART naive persons (newly confirmed
HIV cases) and those who had been on ART for more than 3 months (old cases). Each individual’s sociodemographic
characteristics and clinical data including their HBV and HCV status were collected. Those who knew their HBV and
HCV status and those who did not know their status were tested for circulating HBsAg and anti-HCV using rapid
diagnostic test cassettes. Descriptive analysis was done, and the data presented as median with interquartile range,
frequency and percentage. Fisher’s exact test and Pearson Chi-square (χ2) test were used to determine associations
between categorical variables.
Results: Overall, 394 HIV individuals aged, 3 to 76 years old with a median age of 41 (IQR:34–49) participated in this
study. Circulating HBsAg and anti-HCV were detected in 6.1% (24/394) and 0.5% (2/393) participants respectively with
an overall seroprevalence of 6.6% (26/394). None of the participants was positive for both HBV and HCV infections. 92.1%
(363/394) had no information on their HBV status while all the 394 participants did not know their HCV status during data
collection. No significant association of HBV infection rate was found in all the socio-demographic data of the participants.
But HBV infection rates were significantly higher in those at WHO clinical stages 2 and 3 (P = 0.004).
Conclusion: HBV and HCV were detected among the HIV-infected participants. Majority of the participants had no
information on their HBV status and none of the participants had information on his or her HCV status. This study
recommends the need for policy makers to provide free HBV and HCV screening for all HIV infected individuals
for their effective management.
