Association Between Hepatitis B and C Co-Infection, HIV Disease Stage, and Immune Status in Pediatric Patients

HIV infection in children is of significant public health importance because of its impact on childhood morbidity and mortality and its attendant negative impact on health services delivery. This study aims to determine the Hepatitis B and C Infection and Clinical Staging of HIV Infected Children and the Prevalence of Immunologic Suppression. A total of 86 HIV positive respondents were therefore recruited as Subjects and 86 HIV negative respondents recruited as Controls. One hundred and eighty-three respondents, 90 Subjects and 93 Controls, were initially recruited. However, the blood samples of 4 Subjects and 7 Controls were haemolysed and thus unsuitable for analysis. A total of 172 respondents, 86 Subjects and 86 Controls were finally included in the analysis. The age range of the Subjects was 0.5 - 15 years and that of the Control 0.8 – 15 years. 28% Subjects were ≤5 years old. 5 (13.2%) were in clinical stage 1, 15.8% in stage 2, 44.7% in stage 3 and 26.3% in stage 4. 55.3% had no immune suppression while 7 (18.4%) had moderate and 26.3% severe immune-suppression. 2.1% were in clinical stage 1, 31.3% in stage 2, 39.6% in stage 3 and 27.1% in stage 4. 52.1% had no immune suppression while 39.6% had moderate and 8.3% severe immune suppression. 71.1% of those under 5 years old versus 66.7% older Subjects were in clinical stages 3 and 4. 44.7% versus 47.9% had moderate – severe immune suppression while among those with immune suppression, 10/17 (58.8%) versus 4/23 (17.4%) had severe immune suppression. The prevalence of infection in this study was higher in female children with HIV infection. The prevalence of HBV/HCV co-infections in HIV-infected and uninfected children in this study is 0.0%.