Co-Infection Status of Enterovirus among Hepatitis (A, B, and C) Positive Individual Living within Abuja Internally Displaced Persons Camps

Abstract

The Enterovirus (EV-71) co-infection among Hepatitis A, B, and C virus has become a global co-mortality. This research determined enteroviruses (EV-71) co-infection profile among HAV, HBV, and HCV positive individuals within internally displaced persons camps, Abuja, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was adopted where blood samples from 450 respondents were collected within the three camps and screened for the presence of Hepatitis A, B, and C. Positive samples were further assayed for co-infection with Enterovirus-71 using Rapid Strip RT-PCR Amplification of 16sRNA for Enterovirus-71 (EV-71). The data were analyzed using the SPSS Version 22.1 Software. The results revealed that out of the 450 studied subjects, 11 (2.4%) were HAV positive, 42 (9.3%) were HBV positive, and 33 (7.3%) were HCV positive. Only 1 (0.2%) subject was found to be co-infected with HAV/EV-71. The prevalence of hepatitis among the studied subjects was found to differ significantly among males and females (P=0.001), among various age groups (P=0.001), and among various occupations (P=0.001). The study reports a low rate of Enterovirus-71 among hepatitis (A, B, and C) positive individuals living within Abuja internally displaced persons camps. The study recommends routine screening of internally displaced individuals for the presence of hepatitis virus and EV-71 for early diagnosis and possible adoption of management and control measures that may include vaccination of infected individuals.