Perspectives In Medical Research (Aug 2017)
Study of coinfection of HBV and HIV in patients attending a tertiary care teaching hospital
Abstract
Introduction : HIV positive people are frequently infected with Hepatitis B virus and total global estimate of people with co-infection is around 2 to 4 million. All people who are infected with HIV should be screened for HBV coinfection which poses a main threat for development of Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular carcinoma. Objectives: The main objective of the current study is to assess the incidence of Hepatitis B co-infection in HIV infected patients of rural background attending a tertiary care setup. Materials & Methods: This is a cross-sectional study done over a period of one year among the outpatients attending Prathima Hospital. Ethical clearance was taken from institutional ethical committee. Both HIV and HBsAg screening were done by using rapid immunoassay. The results were calculated by using SPSS 16 software. Results: In our study there is no significant gender difference in the mean age of population who were infected with HIV (P=0.442). Total 16.98% of patients with HIV positive were screened positive for HBsAg indicating co-infection among the rural population attending our tertiary care center. Conclusion: HIV infected individuals are more prone for HBV infection and are at increased risk for subsequent coinfection by Hepatitis B virus. All the HIV infected individuals and their family members should be encouraged for routine HBV screening at least half yearly. Patients with co-infection should be effectively and systematically treated with combined HBV and ART (antiretroviral therapy).
