Epidemiologic profile of hepatitis B virus infection among people living with HIV and AIDS

Viral hepatitis are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) group. These infections can influence clinical course of each other. The aim of the current research is to study epidemiological features and tendency of epidemic process of HBV-infection (Hepatitis B virus) in different age, gender and regional PLWHA group. At the same time, an attempt was made to quantify the risk of viral hepatitis transmission in the PLWHA group. Material and methods. Testing results of 3189 PLWHA were collected and analyzed (01.01.2017-31.12.21). HIV infection diagnosis was confirmed by Western Blot method. HBsAg was detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The age of participants was between 1 to 83 years. Among them 2124 (66.6%) were men and 1065 (33.4%) were women. The control group was composed of 16 173 unpaid blood donors. Pearson Chi-Square Test was used to determine the level of statistical significance of differences. Differences were considered statistically significant at p<0.050. Results. An average seroprevalence of HBV among PLWHA group was 2.948% [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.648-3.248], while in the control group it was equal to 1.113% (95% CI 1.195-1.359), i.e. 2.6 times higher than in the control group (р<0.01). Males in both the PLWHA and control groups in the current investigation had a statistically significantly higher rate of HBsAg detection than had females (р<0.01). The seroprevalence of HBV and distribution patterns did not vary across geographical regions or in different age groups of the PLWHA group (p>0.05). Conclusion. HBV seroprevalence among the PLWHA was on average 2.948% (95% CI 2.648-3.248), whereas it was 1.113% (95% CI 1.195-1.359) in the control group, i.e. 2.6 times higher (р<0.01).