Prevalence and impact of hepatitis B and C virus co‐infections in antiretroviral treatment naïve patients with HIV infection at a major treatment center in Ghana

Abstract

Data on the effects of the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients co-infected with these viruses and HIV in West Africa are conflicting and little information is available in Ghana. A cohort of 138 treatment naïve individuals infected with HIV was screened for HBV and HCV serologic markers; HBsAg positive patients were tested for HBeAg, anti-HBe, and anti-HBc IgM. The viral load of HIV-1 in the plasma was determined in 81 patients. Eighteen of the 138 patients (13%) and 5 (3.6%) had HBsAg and anti-HCV, respectively. None of the patients had anti-HBc IgM, but 10 (55.6%) and 8 (44.4%) of the 18 patients who were HBsAg positive had HBeAg and anti-HBe, respectively. In patients with measurement of CD4(+) undertaken within 1 month (n = 83), CD4(+) count was significantly lower in patients with HBeAg (median [IQR], 81 [22-144]) as compared to those with anti-HBe (median [IQR], 210 [197-222]) (P = 0.002, CI: -96.46 to 51.21). However, those with HIV mono-infection had similar CD4(+) counts (median [IQR], 57 [14-159]) compared to those with HBeAg (P = 1.0, CI: -71.75 to 73.66). Similar results were obtained if CD4(+) count was measured within 2 months prior to initiation of HAART (n = 119). Generally, HBV and anti-HCV did not affect CD4(+) and viral loads of HIV-1 in plasma but patients with HIV and HBV co-infection who had HBeAg had more severe immune suppression as compared to those with anti-HBe. This may have implication for initiating HAART in HBV endemic areas.

Assessment of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections and associated risk factors in HIV infected patients at Debretabor hospital, South Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

“…The finding in this study is also relatively lower than previous studies conducted in other African countries where anti HCV prevalence of 18.1% in Tanzania [22] and 3.6% in Ghana [38] were reported. The lower prevalence of anti HCV in this study might be due to the difference HCV infection in different geographical area and the lower proportion of high risk groups such as intravenous drug users as well as differences including the use of more reliable diagnostic methods to detect HCV infection in those countries.…”

Higher levels of hepatitis C virus RNA found in blood donors co-infected with HIV as compared to HCV mono-infected donors

“…HCV infection is relatively common in HIV-infected people, and its management is especially difficult in resource-limited areas such as sub-Saharan African countries [9]. The reported prevalence of HCV-HIV co-infection in this part of the continent is highly variable [10][11][12][13][14] and is probably underestimated because it is often based on serology. Indeed, HCV RNA was detected in six HIV-infected donors who were HCV seronegative at screening.…”

Decay of Soluble CD30 and HIV-1 Plasma Viral Load during Early Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study

“…However, the significant correlation between HIV infected individuals without HBV or HCV co-infection and BL CD4 + seems to suggest that the presence of HBV may play a role in determining BL levels of sCD30 which diminishes during ART. Since the presence of HBeAg has been shown to result in more severe immune suppression in the patients used in this study [18], it may be responsible for the lack of correlation between BL sCD30 and BL CD4+ in the HIV and HBV co-infected patients.…”

“…Treatment naïve HIV-infected persons with a baseline CD4 count ≤ 250 cells/µl with and without HBV infection and the presence of anti-HCV and were about to initiate ART were eligible. The study population was obtained from a cross-section of 138 individuals who were enrolled from a previous study [18]. Blood samples were obtained at BL, day 7 and 28 after ART.…”

“…In this study the trends in sCD30 levels were observed over 28 days for individuals with only HIV infection as compared to those with HIV and HBV co-infection or having anti-HCV from a previous study [18]. The primary goal was to ascertain the possible usefulness of sCD30 as an indicator for successful suppression of HIV-1 pVL during early ART.…”