Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are hepatotropic viruses whose primary replication occurs in the liver. Despite the significant clinical importance of early screening of hepatitis B and C virus infection in decreasing the hepatotoxicity effect of anti-tuberculosis drugs, screening of hepatitis B and C virus among tuberculosis (TB) patients before treatment has not been practiced in Ethiopia. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and associated factors of HBV and HCV infections among pulmonary TB (PTB) patients attending health facilities in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 145 bacteriologically confirmed PTB patients from January 1 to May 30, 2019. After obtaining a signed informed consent from each participant, data on socio-demographic, clinical, and associated factors were collected using a structured pre-tested questionnaire. Besides, a blood sample was collected to determine HBsAg and HCV antibodies by enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21. A Fisher’s exact test was used to see the relationship between dependent and independent variables, and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results: Out of the 145 PTB patients screened, 5 (3.4%) patients tested positive for HBsAg, yet none of them were found to be positive for anti-HCV. Besides, the proportion of HIV-positive was 12 (8.3%). History of hospital admission (P= 0.005), tattooing (P= 0.009) and dental extraction (P=0.003) were significantly associated with HBsAg.
Conclusion: Although anti-HCV antibodies were not detected, the prevalence of HBV was relatively high in tuberculosis patients. This study highlights the need for the introduction of routine screening of viral hepatitis markers for all TB patients before anti-TB treatment for better management of patients. Likewise, further clinical and epidemiological studies are needed.



中文翻译：

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埃塞俄比亚西北部贡达尔镇卫生机构就诊的肺结核患者乙型和丙型肝炎病毒的血清阳性率及相关因素

背景：乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）和丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）是嗜肝病毒，其主要复制发生在肝脏中。尽管早期筛查乙型和丙型肝炎病毒感染在降低抗结核药物的肝毒性作用方面具有重要的临床意义，但埃塞俄比亚尚未在治疗前对结核病 (TB) 患者进行乙型和丙型肝炎病毒筛查。因此，本研究旨在确定在埃塞俄比亚西北部贡德尔就诊的肺结核 (PTB) 患者中 HBV 和 HCV 感染的血清阳性率和相关因素。
方法：在 2019 年 1 月 1 日至 5 月 30 日期间，对 145 名细菌学确诊的 PTB 患者进行了一项横断面研究。在获得每位参与者签署的知情同意书后，使用结构化的预测试问卷。此外，采集血样通过酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）测定HBsAg和HCV抗体。使用SPSS 21版输入和分析数据。Fisher精确检验用于查看因变量和自变量之间的关系，p值≤0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
结果：在筛查的 145 名 PTB 患者中，5 名 (3.4%) 患者的 HBsAg 检测呈阳性，但均未发现抗 HCV 呈阳性。此外，艾滋病毒阳性率为12（8.3%）。住院史（P=0.005）、纹身（P=0.009）和拔牙（P=0.003）与HBsAg显着相关。
结论：虽然未检测到抗HCV抗体，但结核病患者HBV感染率较高。本研究强调需要在抗结核治疗之前对所有结核病患者进行病毒性肝炎标志物的常规筛查，以更好地管理患者。同样，需要进一步的临床和流行病学研究。