Prevalence of HBV, HDV, HCV, and HIV infection during pregnancy in northern Benin

Abstract

Pregnant women are not screened for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies in many African countries. As there are few data concerning the prevalence of HBV, HDV, and HCV serological markers in Benin, the aim of this study was to evaluate their 2011 prevalence in pregnant women undergoing HIV screening in a rural area of north Benin, and compare the data with those reported for the same area in 1986. The sera of 283 women were examined for HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV 1/2 antibodies. In the case of HBsAg positivity, a search was made for the HBeAg, anti-HDV, and HBV genotypes; in the case of anti-HCV positivity, a search was made for the HCV genotypes. HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV 1/2 were positive in respectively 44 (15.5%), 82 (29.0%), 234 (82.7%), 21 (7.4%), and nine samples (3.2%). Of the HBsAg-positive samples, five (11.4%) were positive for HBeAg, five (11.4%) for anti-HDV, and 19 for HBV genotype E. Of the anti-HCV-positive samples, five were positive for genotype 2a/2c and one for genotype 1a. The prevalence of anti-HBc alone (HBsAg and anti-HBs negative) was very high (41.3%). In comparison with the 1986 data, the prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HBc remained unchanged, that of HBeAg and anti-HDV had decreased, and that of anti-HIV 1/2 had increased. As these data confirm that HBV and HCV are highly endemic in the study area, it may be appropriate to introduce HBsAg and anti-HCV screening for pregnant women. J. Med. Virol. 86:1281-1287, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hepatitis C, Delta and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Sero-Prevalence in Patients Chronically Infected with Hepatitis B Virus in Cotonou, Benin

“…In other studies elsewhere in Africa, prevalence varied from 0-50% was reported without any clear explanation on these variations [12][13][14]. In two previous studies carried out in the northern part of Benin, Zanchetta et al [7] reported 19.4% prevalence rate for anti-HDV antibodies while a rate of 11.4% was reported by de Paschale et al some years later [8]. These findings were higher than what was found in the present study.…”

“…In Benin, data on co-infection with HDV, HCV and HIV in HBV infected patients are rare. To our knowledge, the only two published studies on co-infection with these viruses were on a limited number of patients in one hospital in the Northern part of the country [7,8]. We aimed in the present study to assess the prevalence of HDV, HCV and HIV infections in patients chronically infected with HBV in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin.…”

Performance Characteristics of a New Consensus Commercial Kit for Hepatitis D Virus RNA Viral Load Quantification

“…Particularly, African HDV genotypes (i.e., HDV-1 and HDV-5 to -8) are poorly quantified by almost all available assays and are either undetected or dramatically underestimated (11). These different genotypes originally had a specific geographic distribution; however, due to ancient or recent migrations of populations, this genetic variability is now encountered in different countries worldwide (9)(10)(11)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). In this respect, France, where genotypes HDV-5 to -8 representing 20% of spreading strains were characterized, is an outstanding example (26,27).…”

HIV and viral hepatitis co-infection in pregnancy: an epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic review

“…The research begins to exist from the moment it is published, and the renewal of knowledge is driven by this socialization. In this sense, the scientific journals and, consequently, the scientific article itself play a fundamental role in achieving these aims (Curty and Boccato, 2005).…”