Prevalence of HBsAg and HBV Serotypes Using Antigen Detection and PCR Methods among Human Immunodeficiency Virus Patients Accessing Healthcare in a Tertiary Healthcare Facility in Central Nigeria

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus is a major public health problem especially in developing countries. In a descriptive study, the prevalence of HBsAg and HBV serotypes using antigen detection and PCR methods were evaluated among HIV patients accessing healthcare in a Tertiary Healthcare Facility in Central Nigeria. After ethical clearance, blood samples were aseptically collected between January to April 2016 from 547 subjects who gave informed consent and completed self-administered questionnaire. Blood samples were analyzed using HBsAg screening kit (ACON Laboratories Inc, USA) and Nested PCR approach. The Chi-square statistical test was performed to identify possible risk factors associated with the viral seropositivity. Overall, 53 (9.7%) had IgG antibodies against HBV. A higher prevalence of (11.0%) was recorded in males than females (8.5%). The study revealed highest prevalence (20.0%) in patients aged ≤ 10 years old. The study recorded an association between the prevalence of HBsAg in relation to the education status of the patient (p < 0.05). The prevalence of HBsAg in relation to the occupation, history of blood transfusion, locality, alcohol intake and cigarette smoking, manicure and pedicure practices, scarification marks and history of HBV vaccination did not show any statistically significant association (p> 0.05). Twenty HBV DNA were serotyped and 17 were found positive for 2 HBV serotypes, adw 9(45.0%) and ayw 8(40.0%) detected. The prevalence of HBV serotypes in relation to all risk factors studied did not show any statistically significant association (p > 0.05). Two of the four HBV serotypes ady and adw were found to be circulating in the studied population. General health education regarding HBV infection should be advocated by Government and Non-Governmental healthcare agencies to enlighten the population of its safety measures.