RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of HCV infection and HCV/HIV co-infection among voluntary blood donors at the National Blood Transfusion Centre and clients at the Kenyatta National Hospital HIV-Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Centre. DESIGN: A prospective cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Kenyatta National Hospital, a tertiary referral and teaching hospital and the National Blood Transfusion Services Centre, Nairobi. SUBJECTS: Volunteer blood donors and VCT attendants. RESULTS: The prevalence of HCV/HIV co-infection among 6154 blood donors in the NBTSC was very low, at 0.02. The HIV prevalence among the 353 KNH HIV-VCT clients was 9.3%, none of the clients tested positive for HCV. The incidence of risk factors in the persons with HCV and/or HIV infection(s) was low. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HCV infection among pre-screened volunteer blood donors was low. However the current practice of screening all donated blood for HCV remains indispensable to prevent its transmission to blood recipients.
Asunto(s)
Donantes de Sangre , Consejo Dirigido , Infecciones por VIH/complicaciones , Infecciones por VIH/epidemiología , Hepatitis C/complicaciones , Hepatitis C/epidemiología , Adolescente , Adulto , Distribución por Edad , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Niño , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Humanos , Kenia , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Prevalencia , Estudios Prospectivos , Distribución por SexoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of HCV and HCV/HIV co-infection among medical in-patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital. DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Kenyatta National Hospital, a tertiary referral and teaching hospital, in-patient department SUBJECTS: HIV/AIDS and HIV negative in-patients at KNH medical wards. RESULTS: Among 458 HIV/AIDS medical in-patients, the prevalence of HCV was 3.7% while in the 518 HIV negative patients, it was 4.4%. The prevalence of co-infection with HCV and HIV was 3.7%. The incidence of risk factors in persons with HCV and/or HIV infection(s) was low. CONCLUSION: This study found the prevalence of HCV infection among medical in-patients to be similar in HIV positive and HIV negative group of patients. The co-infection rates were low, as were the risk factors for transmission of these infections.