HIV, HBV AND HCV co-infected patients’ response to the highly active antiretroviral theraphy in the Volta Region of Ghana

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JUNE, 2016
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Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) share similar routes of transmission and pose serious public health concerns. Viral hepatitis coinfection with HIV is known to impact negatively on treatment response among HIV patients. This study sought to determine the treatment outcome of HAART on mono-infected HIV patients and HIV patients co-infected with viral hepatitis and the prevalence of Hepatitis B and/ or C co-infections among HIV patients in the Volta region of Ghana. A prospective cohort study design was used in this study. HIV-1 positive patients attending ART centres were recruited for the study from January, 2014 to December, 2015. Two hundred blood samples were collected from the cohort and screened for the presence of hepatitis B (HBsAg) and C (anti-HCV antibody). A total of one hundred and ten study participants comprised of HIV mono-infected (93 participants) and hepatitis co-infected HIV patients (17 participants) were prospectively followed for one year. CD4, body weight, haemoglobin and liver enzymes levels were determined for each participant at baseline, six months and twelve months intervals. Among the HIV-1 positive individuals, 14 patients were infected with hepatitis B virus (7.5%), 3 with hepatitis C virus (1.5%) and none triply infected. The overall hepatitis-HIV prevalence was 8.5%. There was significant increase in the mean CD4 count, weight gain and haemoglobin levels among HIV mono-infected patients from baseline through six month to the twelve month of therapy (p, <0.05) whereas the co-infected group presented with no significant change in the aforementioned variables over the same period. There was a negative treatment response among hepatitis co-infected HIV patients as compared to mono-infected counterparts. The findings underscore the importance of screening for hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses in the HIV infected individuals on therapy. Keywords: Human Immunodeficiency Virus; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis C virus; coinfection.
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This thesis is submitted to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Mphil in Clinical Microbiology
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