Prevalence of HCV, genotypic subtypes and HCV-HIV co-infection in various broad subgroups of the Kenyan population
Abstract
Objective: To determine the seroprevalence and genotypes of HCV infection
and prevalence of HIV co-infection among various broad subgroups of the
Kenyan population.
Study Design and Setting: This was a prospective cross-sectional descriptive
study, done at KNH, a tertiary referral and teaching hospital, inpatient and
outpatient departments and the National Blood Transfusion Services Center,
Nairobi.
Subjects:
1. Volunteer blood donors
2. Hospital staff, KNH
3. HIV/AIDS and HIV negative in-patients at KNHmedical wards
4. VCTAttendants
Methods: After recruitment, the above subjects were assessed for risk factors
for HCV/HIV transmission through a questionnaire. Blood for determination of
HCVseropositivitiy and genotypes was obtained.
Results: The prevalence of HCV/HIV co-infection among 6154 blood donors in
the NBTSCwas very low, at <0.02%. The prevalence of HCV infection among
977 KNH staff was 3.6%. Among 458 HIV/AIDS medical in-patients, the
prevalence of HCV was 3.7% while in the 518 HIV negative patients, it was
4.4%. The prevalence of co-infection with HCV and HIV was 3.7%. The HIV
prevalence among the 353 KNH HIV-VCT attendees was 9.3%, none of the
clients tested positive for HCV.The genotypes for 5 patients was done; all were
genotype 4. The incidence of risk factors in the persons with HCV and/or HIV
infection(s) was low.
Citation
Master of Medicine (internal Medicine) in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Nairobi 2004Publisher
University of Nairobi School of Medicine