Hepatitis B and C Sero-prevalence in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Izmir

Abstract

Objectives: Infections caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) represent a significant health problem. Co-infection with these viral agents is not uncommon as a result of the similar transmission routes. Our study was planned to investigate the prevalence of HBV and HCV infections in HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients followed up at our institution. Materials and Methods: In this study conducted in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, medical records of patients followed at the HIV/AIDS outpatient clinic between August 2002 and December 2014 were evaluated. Demographic data, main route of HIV transmission, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) immunoglobulin G (IgG), anti-HBs and anti-HCV results were evaluated. Results: A total of 157 treatment-naïve patients who were followed up at our HIV/AIDS outpatient clinic were included in this study. Four patients (2.6%), had HBsAg positivity. Anti-HBc IgG and anti-HBs positivity were detected in 34% and 28.4% of the patients, respectively. No patients had anti-HCV positivity. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBsAg in HIV-positive individuals was found to be similar to that in other population-based studies in our country. Absence of anti-HCV positivity suggests that hepatitis C infection is not a major health problem in this population.

The response to double-dose hepatitis B vaccination in patients with HIV

“…by Inci et al, HBsAg positivity was 4.4%; exposure to hepatitis B (antiHBc IgG) was 34%. [16][17][18]. All these data point to the risk of co-infection in patients with HIV and emphasize the importance of vaccination in newly diagnosed young adults.…”