• Elizabeth Katwesigye, Emmanuel Seremba, Fred Semitala, and Ponsiano Ocama.
• Department of Medicine, Mulago Hospital and Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
• Afr Health Sci. 2017 Dec 1; 17 (4): 974-978.

BackgroundCo-infection with hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis D (HDV) is common among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals in developing countries and it aggressively accelerates progression of liver disease to cirrhosis and other complications. There is scarcity of data on HDV in sub-Saharan Africa .We investigated the sero-prevalence and factors associated with HDV antibody among HIV/HBV co-infected patients attending a large urban HIV clinic in Uganda.MethodsWe screened 189 HIV/HBV co-infected individuals for anti-HDV immunoglobulin G (IgG) and performed logistic regression to determine the associated factors. Socio-demographic, clinical data, immunological status, and liver fibrosis (as determined by the Aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index and transient elastography) were included.ResultsParticipants were predominately young and of sound immunologic status (median age 40 years, median CD4 440 cells/µl). 98% were on ART regimens containing anti-HBV active medications (95.2% were on TDF/3TC while 4.8% on 3TC containing regimen). Median duration on ART was 36 months (IQR 22-72). Anti-HDV was detected in 6/198, 3.2% (95% CI 1.14-6.92%), associated with male gender and a duration of more than 5 years since HIV diagnosis.ConclusionsThe sero-prevalence of HDV antibodies among the HIV/HBV co-infected patients is low in a Ugandan urban cohort.

37 keywords...

hide…