Objective The rate of infertility continues to be on the increase in the developing
world. Similarly, the rates of blood-borne viral infections (BBVs) such as
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C
virus (HCV) are also on this rise. In 2014, the World Health Organization
(WHO) quoted prevalences of 1.5% (HIV), 15% (HBV) 1.3 - 8.4% (HCV) in the
Ghanaian general population. It has been reported that BBVs can adversely
affect male fertility, specifically sperm count and progressive motility.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of BBVs in people with
infertility attending an IVF clinic and whether or not BBVs impacted on
sperm parameters.Methods A retrospective cohort study at a private fertility center in Accra, Ghana.
We had 229 recruited couples assayed for HBV, HCV and HIV. Sperm parameters
of the male partners were also assessed. The analysis performed included
student t-test and Fisher's exact test.Results We found prevalence rates of 1.7% (HIV), 7.9% (HBV) and 0.4% (HCV), which is
similar to what has already been reported in the Ghanaian community. There
was no significant difference between BBV positive and negative subjects for
sperm count (13.6 million/ml vs. 17.7 million/ml, P =
0.0599), percentage of progressive motility (26% vs. 30%, P
= 0.2129), percentage of normal forms (3% vs. 3%, P =
0.0617) and clinical pregnancy rates per embryo transfer (36.1% vs 34.9%,
P = 0.5) between BBV positive and BBV negative
subjects, respectively. Conclusion There is a similar prevalence of BBVs in sub-fertile couples and the general
Ghanaian population. However, no detrimental effect has been reported for
sperm parameters on grounds of BBV infectivity of the male partner.