Seroprevalence of six different viruses among pregnant women and blood donors in rural and urban Burkina Faso: A comparative analysis

Abstract

A seroprevalence study was carried out of six different human pathogenic viruses, namely human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human T‐cell leukemia virus (HTLV), human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV‐8), and dengue virus among pregnant women and blood donors from rural (Nouna) and urban (Ouagadougou) Burkina Faso, West Africa. A total of 683 samples from blood donors (n = 191) and pregnant women (n = 492) were collected from both sites and screened for the different virus infection markers resulting in the following prevalence values for Nouna or Ouagadougou, respectively: HIV 3.6/4.6, anti‐HBV core (anti‐HBc) 69.6/76.4, HBV surface antigen (HBsAg)14.3/17.3, HCV 2.2/1.5, HTLV 1.4/0.5, HHV‐8 11.5/13.5, dengue virus 26.3/36.5. Individuals aged ≥25 years were more likely to be infected with HIV than those below 24 years (P < 0.05). Infection with HIV increased the likelihood of co‐infection with other viruses, such as HHV‐8, HBV and HTLV. Co‐infection studies involving five viruses (HBV‐HBsAg, HHV‐8, HIV, HCV, and HTLV) showed that 4.8% (33/683) of the studied population were dually infected, with HBsAg+ HHV‐8 (13/33), HBsAg+HIV (8/33) and HIV+HHV‐8 (8/33) being the most common co‐infections. Of the population studied 0.6% (4/683) was triply infected, the most common infection being with HBV+HIV+HHV‐8 (3/4). There was no difference in the prevalence of HIV, anti‐HBc, HBsAg, HCV, HTLV, and HHV‐8 either among blood donors or pregnant women in urban or rural setting, while dengue virus prevalence was relatively lower in rural (26.3%) than in urban (36.5%) Burkina Faso. J. Med. Virol. 78:683–692, 2006.