Prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis B Infections among Children in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The prevalence of HBV infection amongst HIV-positive and HIV-negative children was assessed. A total of 322 study samples were collected from discarded residual blood spot samples following routine diagnosis of HIV in children. Statistical differences in the prevalence of HBV between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative samples were calculated using the Pearson chi-square test, and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The number of HBV-positive children was 33, giving a prevalence of 10.25%, while the number of HBV-negative children was 289, giving a prevalence of 89.75%. The prevalence of HIV serotype-I was significantly higher in the HBV-positive children (15.96%) than the HBV-negative children (84.04%). The prevalence of HIV serotype II was also significantly higher in the HBV-positive children (8.96%) than the HBV-negative children (91.04%). The prevalence of HIV and HBV co-infection was higher in the female (7.78%) than the male (5.16%). The highest prevalence of HIV and HBV c-infection with respect to age was seen in children within the age range of 1 – 2 years (8.57%), while the lowest prevalence was seen in children between the age range of 3 – 4 years (0%). The finding of a 10.25 % HBV prevalence in this children cohort is clinically significant. The non-statistically significant difference in HBV prevalence between HIV-positive and HIV-negative children suggests that the high prevalence of HBV infection in children may be independent of HIV infection. Therefore, the transmissions of HBV and HIV in children are not closely linked.