Detection of hepatitis C virus among HIV patients in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) a major human pathogen infecting millions of individuals worldwide, thereby increasing the risks for chronic liver diseases and has been discovered that HIV/HCV co-infected patients have a greater risk.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of HCV infection among HIV infected people in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

METHODOLOGY

The patients were from the ages of 18 and above attending the antiretroviral clinic for over 6 months. The mean age of the participants was 36.91±8.38. Data were gotten from the 550 patients using a modified questionnaire and 5mls of blood samples were collected through venepuncture into EDTA bottles and spun at 3000rpm for 10 minutes separating the plasma from the whole blood. The CD4+ count was gotten from the patients' file and the samples kept at -700C till analized. HCV antibody was detected using a commercially available third generation kit manufactured by Melsin Medical Co and statistical analysis was done using a Stata version 16. P value was determined using ANOVA.

RESULT

Total number positive to the HCV antibody was 24(4.4%) of which 8(33.3%) were males, while 16(66.7%) were females. Prevalence (29.2%) was among patients in the 31-35 age range. The CD4+ count ranged from 22-864 cells/µl with a mean value of 303.08±194.

CONCLUSION

From this study HIV/HCV co-infection occurs among HIV infected people in Port Harcourt. The CD4+ count was discovered to be low and was not age, nor gender dependent. HIV infected people should therefore be routinely screened for HCV.