Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV among Children 6 to 59 Months in the Community in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeff Maotela Kabinda^1,2,3, Tony Shindano Akilimali², Ahuka Serge Miyanga¹, Philippe Donnen^4,5,6, Dramaix-Wilmet Michèle^3,4,5

¹Provincial Blood Transfusion Centre of Bukavu, Bukavu, Congo.
²Catholic University of Bukavu, Bukavu, Congo.
³Research Centre in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Brussels, Belgium.
⁴Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
⁵School of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium.
⁶Centre for Policy and Health Systems/International Health, Brussels, Belgium.

DOI: 10.4236/ojped.2015.52026                

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV among children 6 to 59 months and determine the risk factors. Materials and Methods: Descriptive and analytical study on children aged 6 to 59 months of community Maniema (DRC) conducted between 24 June and 24 July 2013. We enrolled 781 children aged 6 to 59 months. For association between the presence of viral markers and potential risk factors the chi-square test of Pearson was applied, the odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated. The Fisher exact test was used when the conditions for application of the chi-square test of Pearson were not met. Results: The median age of the children was 34 months, 51% of female children. Ten percent of children had a history of blood transfusion; 6.6% and 64% had fever and anemia. The prevalence of HBsAg was 3.6%, the prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C was 2.8% and HIV was 3.7%. The risk factors were HBsAg, male gender (5.5% male vs 2.0 % female; OR = 2.8(1.3 - 6.9) p = 0.001) and urban areas (5.0% rural vs 0.5% urban, OR = 0.1 (0.01 - 0.72), p = 0.01). For HCV and HIV, these factors were the history of blood transfusion in the child and the mother. For HCV 7.6% of children with blood transfusion history; OR = 3.2 (1.1 - 8.5); p = 0.05 and 11.1% history’s mother blood transfusion, OR = 5.6 (2.1 - 14.1). For HIV 11.4% of children with blood transfusion history, OR = 3.8, p = 0.005 and 9.8% history’s mother blood transfusion, OR = 2.9, p = 0.04. Conclusion: Vaccination against hepatitis B in children must be widespread, educational messages to the population must target the risk factors for these viruses. A screening of hepatitis in pregnant women must be coupled with rigorous selection policy for blood donors before each donation and qualification of any unit of blood.

Keywords

HBV, HCV, HIV, Child

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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