Prevalence of Hepatitis-B virus and HIV infections in Pregnant Women Receiving Antenatal Care Services, Kano – Nigeria

The dreadful nature of hepatitis-B virus (HBV) and HIV infections and their common mode of transmission during pregnancy have made them become an important global health problem and a leading cause of maternal complications and neonatal deaths in both developed and developing countries. The current study determined the seroprevalence of HBV and HIV amongst pregnant women receiving antenatal care services in Kano state. Structured questionnaires were distributed to 276 (14-49 years) consenting pregnant women across the six selected health facilities to obtain demographic and socio-economic data. Three (3) ml of venous blood sample were drawn by venipuncture and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 min. The serum was tested for the presence of HIV antibodies using the Abbott Determine HIV 1/2 test kit and HBV antibodies using a rapid diagnostic test kit (DiaSpot Diagnostics, USA). The \chi2 test for independence was determined using GraphPad InStat software (version 3.0). Sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents showed 95.7% of the respondents as being married, 64.5% lived in a monogamous family, 62.4% petty traders, 26.8% unemployed, 57.4% of them are 21 – 30 years of age, 41.3% have Quranic education, 28.3% are 1st gravida while 36.9% have more than 4 children. Additionally, 1.4% of HIV and 8% of HBV cases were confirmed. The chi-squared test for independence (\chi2=13.078, P=0.0003) showed a significant relationship between the two variables. HIV and HBV infections existed in the study group. Regular screening, awareness, and health education programs on the mode of their transmission should be directed to pregnant women to prevent vertical transmission.