Assessment of Hepatitis B Co-infection among HIV/AIDS Patients Attending Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Clinic in Garaku, Central Nigeria

This study sought to determine the seroprevalence of HIV/HBV co*infection among patients attending Ante-retroviral therapy (ART) clinic in Garaku, a Metropolitan setting, in Central Nigeria. Blood samples were collected from 200 patients attending ART clinic and were screened for Hepatitis B infection using the ACON Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) Rapid test strip, between January to October, 2013. The overall prevalence of Hepatitis B co-infection was 13.00%. The HBV co-infection was more common among females than males, with prevalence rate of 53.85% and 46.15%, respectively. Statistically, there was no significant difference between the HIV/HBV co-infection with respect to age, sex, marital status and high risk behavior. Co-infection with hepatitis B virus is common among HIV infected patients in the setting and this further reaffirms the need for routine baseline screening for this marker, as it is a major consideration in the initiation and choice of highly active antiretroviral therapy. Patients found to be seronegative for HBV should be immunized with HBV vaccine to improve the prognosis of their HIV.