Hepatitis B and C Co-infection with HIV among adolescents living with HIV at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital Lafia North Central Nigeria

Background: The sub-Saharan Africa is bedeviled with a high burden of infectious diseases that includes but not limited to Hepatitis and HIV. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and C infections can all be acquired through maternal to child transmission, blood transfusion, sexual exposure and use of unsterilized sharps. Both are diseases of public health importance in view of its contribution to childhood morbidity and mortality. These viral co-infections have been shown to lead to faster disease progression, yet the burden is not well known among adolescents in our environment. This study therefore, set out to determine the magnitude of Hepatitis B and C co-infection with HIV among adolescents attending care in our facility. Methods: A prospective cross sectional study among HIV infected adolescents at the Paediatric HIV clinic of the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital Lafia were recruited using the simple random sampling methods. Questionnaires were administered, Hepatitis B and C screening were done and data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Categorical variables were presented in percentages while continuous variables where presented as mean and standard deviation. Results: A total of 150 HIV infected adolescents were recruited with a mean age of 13.88 2.71. Females were 92 accounting for 61.3 % of the study population. The prevalence of Hepatitis B and C in this study was 5.3 % and 0 % respectively. There are more males than females with Hepatitis B and HIV co-infection. Hepatitis B co-infection with HIV was associated with an increased viral load. Conclusion: Hepatitis B and C co-infection with HIV was not found. There was a low prevalence of Hepatitis B and HIV (5.3 %) and no Hepatitis C and HIV co-infection in this study. Presence of Hepatitis B and HIV co-infection was associated with a higher viral load