Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B, and C Viruses and HIV Infections among Antenatal Women in a Secondary Health Facility in Lagos, Nigeria.

Background: Hepatitis B and C viruses and HIV infections contribute a significant proportion to maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in low and middle-income countries. While the burden of hepatitis B and C viruses is higher in low and middle-income countries, Nigeria also has the second largest burden of HIV.
Objectives: To determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C viruses and HIV infections among antenatal women who sought care at a secondary health facility in Lagos.
Methods: This was a retrospective review of patients managed in the antenatal clinic of 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital over one year. A study proforma was used to collect relevant data which were entered and analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Statistics) Version 23.
Results: A total of 347 women attended prenatal care during the study period, however, only 329 cases with complete data were included in the final statistical analysis. The prevalence of HIV in our study was 6.4%, while HBV and HCV accounted for 6.2% and 1.8% respectively. Hepatitis B, and hepatitis C viruses and HIV Infections occurred in 3 (0.9%) of our patients, 6 (1.8%) of the women had HIV-HBV co-infection while 1 (0.3%) was infected with HIV-HCV.
Conclusion: Our study re-emphasizes the public health importance of HBV, HCV and HIV screening in our antenatal clinics. This knowledge is very important for the implementation of effective prevention and control measures that will further decrease the mother-to-child transmission of these viruses.
Competing Interests: The Authors declare that no competing interest exists.
(Copyright © 2022 by West African Journal of Medicine.)