Prevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C and associated risk factors among HIV positive individuals at Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centers in Jimma zone, South West Ethiopia, 2016.

Background: Shared modes of transmission of infection with HIV and hepatitis B and/or C virus, have made them important causes of morbidity and mortality in HIV infected persons receiving antiretroviral drugs. The magnitude of HBV and HCV co and triple infection among HIV patients has not been known in Jimma zone. Objective: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B and C; and associated risk factors among HIV positive individuals in Jimma zone, Ethiopia, 2016. Methods: A facility based cross sectional study based on secondary data were conducted on an anonymous samples collected for VCT at Jimma specialized hospital from January, 2015 to May, 2016. A questionnaire adapted for this study was used to collect data on demographic characteristics, associated risk factors, and serological status of HBV/HCV among HIV positive individuals. Results: A history of four hundred eleven HIV positive individuals were included in the study, Majority of participants were female65.5%. Age (28.8±11.2) year were enrolled. Thirty three (8.0%)[95% CI, 5.2–10.3] were HBV positive, twenty (4.9%) [95% CI, 2.8–6.9] were HCV positive and four (1.0%) [95% CI, 0.2–2.3] were HBV/HCV/HIV triple infected. Rural residency shown to be independent predictor for HCV [AOR = 2.81; 95% CI 1.03–7.68]. Conclusions: These findings suggest that co-infection and triple co-infection is similar with the general population in the study setting. Therefore, it is important to implement a screening program for HIV positive individuals for active infection of HBV and HCV is therefore necessary.