Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;21(3):1010-1015.
doi: 10.4314/ahs.v21i3.8.

Detection of hepatitis C virus among HIV patients in Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Glory Barinuaka Baeka  1   2 , Julius Kola Oloke  1 , Oluyinka Oladele Opaleye  1   3
Affiliations

Detection of hepatitis C virus among HIV patients in Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Glory Barinuaka Baeka et al. Afr Health Sci. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) a major human pathogen infecting millions of individuals worldwide, thereby increasing the risks for chronic liver diseases and has been discovered that HIV/HCV co-infected patients have a greater risk.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of HCV infection among HIV infected people in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Methodology: The patients were from the ages of 18 and above attending the antiretroviral clinic for over 6 months. The mean age of the participants was 36.91±8.38. Data were gotten from the 550 patients using a modified questionnaire and 5mls of blood samples were collected through venepuncture into EDTA bottles and spun at 3000rpm for 10 minutes separating the plasma from the whole blood. The CD4+ count was gotten from the patients' file and the samples kept at -700C till analized. HCV antibody was detected using a commercially available third generation kit manufactured by Melsin Medical Co and statistical analysis was done using a Stata version 16. P value was determined using ANOVA.

Result: Total number positive to the HCV antibody was 24(4.4%) of which 8(33.3%) were males, while 16(66.7%) were females. Prevalence (29.2%) was among patients in the 31-35 age range. The CD4+ count ranged from 22-864 cells/µl with a mean value of 303.08±194.

Conclusion: From this study HIV/HCV co-infection occurs among HIV infected people in Port Harcourt. The CD4+ count was discovered to be low and was not age, nor gender dependent. HIV infected people should therefore be routinely screened for HCV.

Keywords: CD4+ Count; HCV; HIV; Serology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Lavanchy D. The Global Burden Of Hepatitis C. Int. 2009;29(Suppl 1):74–81. - PubMed
    1. Mast EE, Hwang LY, Seto DS, Nolte FS, Nainan OV, Wurzel H, Alter M J. Risk factors for perinatal transmission of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the natural history of HCV infection acquired in infancy. J. Infect Dis. 2005;192(11):1880–1889. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organisation, author. Global Health Strategy on HIV, 2016 – 2021. [July 01, 2020].
    1. Dhawan V K. “Which age group has the highest prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection”. w.w.w.medscape.com 2019 with HIV and hepatitis C virus: 2007 updated recommendations from the HCV-HIV International Panel. AIDS. 2007;21(9):1073–1089. 2016. - PubMed
    1. Soriano V, Puoti M, Sulkowski M, et al. Care of patients coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus: 2007 updated recommendations from the HCV-HIV International Panel. AIDS. 2007;21(9):1073–1089. - PubMed