Premarital Screening for Haemoglobin Genotype, HIV and Syphilis among Prospective Couples in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Premarital medical screenings for prospective marital couples are vital public health tools for the prevention of such hereditary diseases as sickle cell disease, sexually transmitted and bloodborne infections, which may be transmitted from one spouse to the other and to their offspring. While the screening for haemoglobin genotypes is useful in preventing couples at risk from passing the homozygous SS or related genes to their children who may suffer from sickle cell disease (SCD), HIV, and syphilis screening are helpful in the prevention and control of the associated infectious diseases. Methodology: In this retrospective, descriptive cross-sectional study, the laboratory records of premarital screenings for couples who were tested for Hb genotype, HIV and syphilis were reviewed and analysed statistically using descriptive statistics and chi-square test of independence. Results: The genotype results in this study reveal that 76% of the persons tested were Hb AA, followed by 116 who were reported to be Hb AS (23%), Hb SS (0.8%), and Hb AC (0.2%). A preponderant number of the marital unions were noticed to be between Hb AA males and Hb AA females, accounting for 59.9%; Hb AA and Hb AS couples (32.5%), Hb AA and Hb SS(1.2%), Hb AS and Hb AS (5.6%), while Hb AS and Hb SS (0.4%). The total prevalences of HIV, syphilis, HIV/ syphilis co-infection and overall infection of HIV and/ or syphilis are observed at 1.0%, 0.4%, 0.2% and 1.2% respectively. Conclusion: The diseases intended to be controlled in this study are of particular concern with regard to their public health implications. It is recommended that national campaigns be carried out to promote awareness on PMSTs and the treatment of persons infected with syphilis and HIV.