Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus among VCT and PICT Clients in St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: -Hepatitis B virus is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. Although HBV and HIV have the similar route of transmission, screening services for HBV are not common in most of the voluntary counseling and testing centers (VCT). Therefore, more information is required on prevalence of HBV in VCT and PICTcenters, and the rate of co-infection of HBV and HIV.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2011 to February 2012 in St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. 292 consecutive samples were collected using convenient sampling method from PICT and VCT clients. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and sexual behaviors were collected using a questionnaire. Blood specimen was tested for the presence of Hepatitis B surface antigen and the data was analyzed using version16 SPSS software.Results: The prevalence of HBV was 14.7%.  Hepatitis B Virus prevalence among HIV positive clients was 25% while among HIV negative was 14.3%. Sex which is demographic data is statisticallysignificant (p=0.02).Conclusion: The prevalence of HBVis 14.7% and one fourth of the HIV positive attendants seen in the PICT and VCT centers have HBV and HIV Co-infections.

Keywords: Co-infection, HIV, HBV, VCT, PICT, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA