Hepatitis B and C virus infection among HIV patients within the public and private healthcare systems in Chile: A cross-sectional serosurvey

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 1; p. e0227776
• Main Authors: Weitzel, Thomas, Rodríguez, Fernanda, Noriega, Luis Miguel, Marcotti, Alejandra, Duran, Luisa, Palavecino, Carla, Porte, Lorena, Aguilera, Ximena, Wolff, Marcelo, Cortes, Claudia P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 09.01.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; AIDS; Analysis; Antiretroviral therapy; Biology and Life Sciences; CD4 antigen; Chile - epidemiology; Coinfection - blood; Coinfection - complications; Coinfection - epidemiology; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographics; Disease transmission; Epidemiology; Female; Health care facilities; Health care policy; Health problems; Hepacivirus - isolation & purification; Hepatitis; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B - blood; Hepatitis B - complications; Hepatitis B - epidemiology; Hepatitis B e antigen; Hepatitis B surface antigen; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis B virus - isolation & purification; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C - blood; Hepatitis C - complications; Hepatitis C - epidemiology; Hepatitis C virus; HIV; HIV - isolation & purification; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV patients; Hospitals, Private; Hospitals, Public; Hospitals, University; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infection; Infections; Liver cirrhosis; Male; Mayors; Medical records; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metropolitan areas; Middle Aged; Mortality; Patients; People and places; Population; Public health; Public health movements; Sexually transmitted diseases; STD; Studies; Vaccination; Virus diseases; Viruses; Young Adult; Chile; South America; Dominican Republic
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227776

Coinfections of HIV patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are mayor public health problems, contributing to the emerging burden of HIV-associated hepatic mortality. Coinfection rates vary geographically, depending on various factors such as predominant transmission modes, HBV vaccination rates, and prevalence of HBV and HCV in the general population. In South America, the epidemiology of coinfections is uncertain, since systematic studies are scarce. Our study aimed to analyze rates of HBV and HCV infection in people living with HIV attending centers of the public and private health system in Chile. We performed a cross-sectional study including a public university hospital and a private health center in Santiago, Metropolitan Region in Chile. Serum samples were used to determine serological markers of hepatitis B (HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc total, HBeAg, anti-HBe) and anti-HCV. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were obtained from medical records. 399 patients were included (353 from public, 46 from private health center). Most (92.8%) were male, with a median age of 38.3 years; 99.4% acquired HIV through sexual contact (75.0% MSM); 25.7% had AIDS and 90.4% were on ART. In 78.9%, viral loads were <40 cps/mL; the median CD4 cell count was 468 cells/mm3. According to their serological status, 37.6% of patients were HBV naïve (susceptible), 6.5% were vaccinated, 43.6% had resolved HBV infection, and 5.8% were chronically infected. The rate of vaccination was 4.5% in the public and 21.7% in the private system. HCV coinfection was found in 1.0% of all patients. HBV coinfection rate was within the range of other South American countries, but lower than in non-industrialized regions in Asia and Africa. A low percentage of patients were HBV vaccinated, especially within the public system. HCV coinfection rate was very low, most probably due to the rareness of injecting drug use.