Investigation of Hepatitis B and C virus Co-Infection in Pregnancy at a Tertiary Hospital, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections account for a reasonable proportion of
liver diseases worldwide. Co-infection with the two viruses is not uncommon because the two viruses
share similar modes of transmission. The objective is to determine the Hepatitis B and C virus coinfection
in pregnancy, their seroprevalence and clinico-epidemiological correlates. This is a
descriptive cross sectional study. Two hundred and twenty (220) consecutive healthy pregnant
women attending the antenatal booking clinic of the hospital who met the inclusion criteria were
recruited into this study after pretest counselling and obtaining consent from them. This was tested for
both HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies with commercially available in vitro diagnostic kits (one step test
strips). Data was collected via a questionnaire. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS
(statistical package for social sciences) 22 statistical package (SPSS Inc., Illinois, U.S.A). P value less
than 0.05 was taken as being significant. The mean age of the pregnant women studied was 28.8
years ± 5.2 while the mean parity was 1.20 ± 1.16. Of the 220 recruited pregnant women, 4.6%
(n=10) were seropositive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) while 2.7% (n=6) were seropositive
for hepatitis C viral (anti-HCV) antibodies. There was 0% Hepatitis B and C virus co-infection in
pregnancy. Multiple sexual partners and Female circumcision were the significant risk factors
for HBsAg seropositivity (p<0.05). None of the risk factors were significantly associated with
hepatitis C viral antibody seropositivity. Hepatitis B and C virus co-infection rate in pregnancy is
infinitesimal in our obstetrics population. Routine screening for Hepatitis B virus infection and
advocacy for active and passive immunization to infants of seropositive pregnant women is however
recommended.