Epidemiological Profile of Hiv/Hbv Co-Infection among Patients Attending Hospital Consultations in Brazzaville

Abstract

HIV and HBV infections remain a serious public health problem in sub-Saharan countries. From time to time, we see rapidly increasing prevalence rates, and co-infection remains a major issue that public authorities around the world, and in Africa in particular, are working to resolve. Our cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted among 130 patients who came for consultation and attended the laboratory department of the Djiri General Hospital in Brazzaville. After collecting plasma samples, rapid screening tests were used. Positive cases were confirmed using the ELISA technique. Of the 130 participants, 8.46% and 4.62% were diagnosed as HIV-positive and HBV-positive, respectively, with an HIV/HBV co-infection prevalence of 9.09%. We found no significant association between the two infections and socio-demographic characteristics. Our results showed low prevalence of both infections, with a predominance in the 12-35 age group, i.e., young people. In view of the results, it would be important to intensify actions targeting young girls, as women remain the most vulnerable sex likely to contract either HIV or HBV in the present study.