HSV-1/2 Seronegativity and HCV Seropositivity in People Living with HIV Presenting at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria

Herpes simplex virus has public health importance as a leading cause of genital ulcers, which also facilitate human immunodeficiency virus while co-infection with hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus is common in certain populations. This study was carried out with the aim of determining the prevalence of Herpes simplex virus and hepatitis C virus in people living with HIV attending a teaching hospital in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. Blood samples were randomly collected from 100 HIV-infected individuals of which 42 were males and 58 were females and analysed using ELISA. Results showed an overall prevalence of HCV to be 4.0% seropositivity and HSV to be 0.0% with 100.0% seronegativity. Higher prevalence of HCV occurred in ages groups 26-35 years (4.7%) than 16-25 years (4.4%) and 36 years & above (4.0%) with a significant difference of p <0.05. It showed that HCV antibody was only present among females (6.9%) and target not detected (TND) with 4.4%. Higher prevalence of HCV occurred among HIV-infected individuals having CD4 counts of >350 cells/mm3 than the <200 cells/mm3 and 200-249 cells/mm3 (0.0%). The study showed 4.4% seropositivity of HCV and 100.0% seronegativity of HSV in HIV- infected individuals with the highest prevalence of HCV recorded for age boundary 26-35 years. Thus, the increased number of HCV seropositivity among HIV-infected individuals indicates that there is a synergistic relationship between HIV and HCV infection. This study recommends that more attention should be given to the area of HIV/HCV coinfection in the management of infected patients.