Seroprevalence of Blood-borne Viral Infections in Post HAART Era at a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India: A Five Year Trend Analysis (2008-2012) and a Comprehensive Review

Aim: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) viruses are the major causes of chronic viral infections globally and their prevalence has been extensively reported in the literature in various study groups including general population, health care workers, sex workers, homosexuals, pregnant woman. There are only fewer reports of Seroprevalence in tertiary care centers. We aim to study the trends of such infections in a tertiary care teaching hospital located at South India.
Study Design: This is a prospective study conducted over a 5 year period (2008-2012).
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiology, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Andhrapradesh, India from 2008-2012.
Methodology: We performed a prospective study of patients presenting at the Prathima institute of medical Sciences, a rural tertiary care teaching hospital over a period of 5-years (Jan 2008 to Dec 2012). Screening for anti-HIV I and 2, HBsAg detection and anti-HCV antibodies test were carried out by commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Of the 16796 individuals tested a total of 570 (3.3%) showed seropositivity to one of the three viral infections tested. Among the population tested 258(1.5%) were seropositive for antibodies against HIV-1, and none showed HIV-2 seroprevalence (0%). Prevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C were found as 305(1.8%) and 7(0.04%) respectively. Co-infection of HIV-1 with Hepatitis B was observed only in 10(0.06%) cases.
Conclusion: The present study revealed that there was a slight increasing trend for Seroprevalence of HIV- 1 antibodies among the tested population. Hepatitis B surface antigen Seroprevalence has shown a gradual increase during the last five years. Seroprevalence rates of Hepatitis C viral infection also showed an increasing trend through a five year period.