Prevalence of HBsAg, HCV and HIV Antibodies Among Infertile Couples in Ahvaz, South-West Iran

Abstract

The present study determined some critical information about the prevalence of HBsAg, HCV & HIV antibodies among infertile couples in southern Iran. Background: Without doubt the problem of infertility is important not just for the individual couple, but in many cases it has a wider effect on human life which may lead to social disorganization if not addressed in the future if not addressed in the future. Objectives: Since the screening of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies of infertile couples has not been studied in our area; this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HBsAg, HCV & HIV antibodies among infertile couples. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective cross sectional study and its setting was an in vitro fertilization (IVF) ward. The population study included all of the couples (712) admitted to the infertility center of Ahvaz Imam Khomeini Hospital in 2007-2008 (12 month period). Intervention was an analysis of the data containing the patients' demographic characteristics and included their HBsAg, HCV and HIV serostatus, which were routinely screened during this period. The main outcome measure was the prevalence of HBsAg, HCV and HIV antibodies among the infertile couples referred to the infertility center. Results: The age range of the men and women was 18 to 62 years and 16 to 46 years respectively. 11 (0. 77 %) of the infertile couples, including 6 (0. 8) women and 5 (0. 7%) men were HBsAg positive. 9 (0. 63 %) infertile couples, 6 (0. 8) women and 3 (0. 4%) men were HCV antibody positive. No cases of HIV were observed in this study. Conclusions: Although the frequencies of hepatitis B and C infections found in this study were small, it still seems logical from the statistical analysis to screen for both viruses as well as for HIV, while a future study using a larger sample size of infertile couples is also recommended.

Sero-Prevalence of hepatitis C & B viruses & assessment Knowledge in a group of infertile couples attending at women's health center, Assiut city

“…In the present study the age range of the men and women was 18 to 62 years and 16 to 46 years respectively which illustrated that more than half of infertile females (56.00%) were in the age group 20-29 years old with mean maternal age (29.2±9.8) years and less than half of infertile males (47.00%) were in the age group 30-39 years old with mean maternal age (34.5±11. The present study estimate the prevalence of hepatitis (HBV) which found that the prevalence of positive HBV was 4% in general between males and females (1% in females & 3% in males) this result near to the lower limit of the national range in Egypt (2-8%) recorded by (Abdel-Rahman El-Zayadi, 2007) and agree with the result of (Shalaby , et al, 2010) to assess hepatitis B and C viral infection: prevalence, knowledge, attitude and practice among barbers and clients in Gharbia governorate, Egypt, found that the total prevalence of HBsAg detected in 308 persons from barbers was 4.2% and 3.9% in 308 persons from their clients and also the results consisted with other study done by (Nikbakht, et al, 2012) in Ahvaz, South-West Iran on 712 infertile couple to estimate the prevalence of HBsAg, HCV and HIV Antibodies showed that 11 (0.77 %) infertile couples; 6 (0.8) women and 5 (0.7%) men were HBV positive and 9 (0.63%) infertile couples; 6 (0.8) women and 3 (0.4%) men were HCV positive. The present study assessed the level of couples knowledge which showed that majority of couples with poor knowledge while the minority of couples have good knowledge which agree with (Abdel Rehim, 2014) study done on 350 general population from barber and their customers at Assiut city, Egypt to assess their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding hepatitis B and C viruses as a basis for educational program which illustrated that 88.6% of barber and 80.6% of customers with poor knowledge and 11.4% of barber and 13.7% of customers with satisfactory knowledge and accepted with (Noman ul Haq et al, 2012) who reported in their study did on 780 participants to assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice towards Hepatitis B among healthy population of Quetta, Pakistan, found that majority were within the poor knowledge range whereas minority showed adequate knowledge about HBV and also the present study illustrated that females had less knowledge than males.…”

Seroprevalence of microbial organisms during routine infertility evaluation at University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin-City, Nigeria

“…The seroprevalence of other viruses (HIV, HBV and HCV) studied were low and comparable to previous research on viral infections amongst infertile couples (25). HCV seroprevalence in our study is lower compared to a previous study in our centre which investigated HCV prevalence amongst antenatal clinic attendees (26).…”

The prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV infections among Iranian infertile couples referring to Royan institute infertility clinic: A cross-sectional study

“…Searching in the literature showed us that there were some similar studies with the same objectives as our study. Nikbakht and colleagues performed their study among 712 infertile couples in Khuzestan province in the west southern of Iran and reported 11 and 9 infertile couples who had HBV and HCV infection, respectively (12). They believed that low prevalence of hepatitis infection in their study is related to their low sample size and suggested next studies with higher sample size in national scale in which including more Iranian provinces (12, 15-16).…”

“…In one study on 712 infertile couples in Ahvaz city (in south west of Iran), investigators reported that HBV and HCV were positive in 11 (0.77%) and 9 (0.63%) couples, respectively (12). Passos and colleagues assessed 409 infertile couples in a Brazilian infertility clinic and reported that the HCV infection rate among male and female infertile patients were 3.2% and 3.7% respectively.…”