A Tale of Two Viruses: Seroepidemiological and a Cross-Sectional Insights into HIV/HBV Coinfection in Selected Hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a circular DNA virus with humans serving as the only reservoir, remains a worldwide public health problem. The similarity in transmission routes for HBV and HIV makes co-infection very common. Thus, this study aimed at unveiling the seroepidemiological patterns of HBV coinfections among HIV-infected individuals in some selected hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 350 HIV-infected individuals attending ART clinics at selected hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria. Sociodemographic data were collected based on interviewer-based questionnaire, and clinical history was obtained from participants' medical records. Serological analysis for HBsAg was done using ELISA method. Results: Of the 350 HIV-infected patients, 9(2.6%) were positive for HBsAg. The majority of HIV/HBV coinfected participants were in age groups >41 (3.7%), females (2.9%), singles (3.0%), tertiary education holders (3.5%), and business owners (1.1%) as shown in Table 1. Furthermore, immunological and virological markers analysis revealed that HBV seropositivity is more common with patients having CD4 count of 350-499 cells/mm3 (6.2%) and viral loads as target not detected (TND) with 5.4%. Conclusion: This study observed an HIV/HBV coinfection rate of 2.6% which has further confirmed the persistence of HIV/HBV co-infection in Rivers State, Nigeria. Ongoing and persistent public health interventions among the study population are thereby advocated.