Prevalence of HIV co-infection with Hepatitis B and C viruses among children at a tertiary hospital in Ilorin , Nigeria

Background: The understanding of the shared routes of infection by Human immunodeficiency virus and blood borne hepatotropic viruses such as Hepatitis B and C viruses has raised concern about the possibility and impact of coinfection with the viruses. Studies especially among adults and few paediatric studies have shown that coinfection is indeed common and that coinfection adversely affects the outcome of the diseases. The burden of HIV coinfection in African children and particularly Nigeria is not well known. This study assessed the prevalence of hepatitis B and C in newly diagnosed HIV infected children managed at a tertiary Hospital. Methodology: The study was a descriptive crosssectional determination of hepatitis B surface antigenaemia and antibody to hepatitis C of newly diagnosed HIV infected children aged 2months to 13 years who were managed at the Paediatric Antiretroviral Clinic or admitted to the hospital after obtaining informed consent. Result: A total of 60 subjects, of whom 31 were males were recruited into the study with a mean age of 5.6±3.0 years. The prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HCV were 10% and 1.7% respectively, making the prevalence of coinfection to be 11.7%. No patient had coinfection with the three viruses. HIV coinfected children were significantly older than their monoinfected counterparts. There was no significant gender difference among the coinfected children (p=0.011). Conclusions: HIV coinfection with viral hepatitis is a significant emerging problem whose impact in childhood is yet to be fully characterized. Routine screening of all HIV infected children for HBV and HCV and appropriate adjustment of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) of patients with coinfection according to the National guideline is recommended.