TITLE:
Hepatitis B Virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infections among Health Care Workers in Some Health Care Centers in Benue State, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Emmanuel Msugh Mbaawuaga, Samuel Kuma Hembah-Hilekaan, Christian Ukuoma Iroegbu, Anthony Chibuogwu Ike
KEYWORDS:
HBV, HIV, Health Care Workers, Benue State, Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Microbiology,
Vol.9 No.2,
June
19,
2019
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Benue State of Nigeria has a high morbidity and mortality among individuals from HIV/AIDS. HBV is common among people who are at risk of/or living with HIV since both are transmitted in the same ways and in the presence of co-infection, there is increased risk for serious life threatening liver and other health complications. This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of HBV and HIV infections among Health Care Workers (HCWs) in some health care centers in the state. Materials and Methods: A total of 255 randomly collected blood specimen of consenting HCWs from some health care centers located in Benue State were screened by ELISA for Hepatitis B virus markers. Antibodies to HIV 1and 2 were detected in sera using Determine (Alero, Japan) and Stat Pak (USA) test strips. Other information was obtained through administration of structured questionnaire and data generated were analyzed using Chi square (χ2) test. Results: Of the 255 sampled individuals, 221 (86.7%) showed serological evidence of exposure to HBV markers, some through natural infection (21.6%) and others (23.9%) through vaccination; 10.6% of the exposed were currently infected, while 30.6% were indeterminate. HIV antibodies were in 43 (16.9%) while 6 (2.4%) had both HBV and HIV infections. HIV significantly (P = 0.027) increased with increasing years of professional service in the health sector, similar to needle stick injury (P = 0.000) in this study. Both HBV and HIV were significantly higher (P = 0.025, P = 0.000 respectively) in individuals with history of previous surgery. Conclusion: Therefore, HBV and HIV infections are common among HCWs in Benue State. Hence, there is need to scale up vaccination coverage for HBV and upgrade the medical facilities especially in rural health care centers as well as intensification of programmes targeting safety and prevention for precautions.