Genotypes of HBV and HCV among HIV-1 co-infected individuals in Ngong Sub-County, Kenya

Background: Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C viruses are the major causes of liver disease worldwide. Co-infections with HBV and HCV have turned out to be increasingly very common among people living with HIV, leading to a major public health concern Objective: To determine HBV and HCV diversity among HIV infected patients attending the Ngong sub-county hospital comprehensive care clinic. Design: A cross-sectional study Setting: HIV research laboratory in Centre for virus research at Kenya medical research institute, Nairobi. Subjects: HIV infected patients attending the comprehensive care clinic at Ngong subcounty hospital between May and August 2015. Results: One hundred and ninety (190) HIV-1 positive patients participated in this study, consisting of 78.9% females and 21.1% males. Out of the 190 participants, 11(5.8%) were positive for Hepatitis B surface antigen and eight (4.2%) were positive for anti- HCV antibodies. 5/11 samples were positive for HBV DNA PCR and five belonged to HBV genotype A and E . However, none of the eight samples for HCV were positive for HCV RNA PCR. Conclusion: None of the patients was infected with HCV. HBV genotype A1 was the most dominant circulating genotype in Ngong sub-County followed by genotype E. Nevertheless, there could be other HBV genotypes circulating in Kenya especially among higher risk populations.