HIV, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Luanda, Angola: Seroprevalence and risk factors

Abstract

Infectious diseases during pregnancy remain a public health concern, especially in a resource-limited setting. The study aimed to determine the seroprevalence and determinants of HIV and co-infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 1612 pregnant women screened for HIV during antenatal care. HIV-reactive were also screened for the HBV, HCV, and syphilis using immunoassay kits. A logistic regression model, adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and their 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated with a level of significance set at 5%. The overall seroprevalence of HIV was 2.6%. About 13% of HIV-positive pregnant women were coinfected. From which, 7.5% were reactive to HBV and 5% to syphilis. There was no reactivity to HCV. Pregnant women younger aged than 25 years were significantly protected from HIV-infection (AOR, 0.43 [95% CI, 0.20-0.91],P = .026). The co-infection was 1.3 times (AOR, 0.04-41.0) in younger aged than 25 years, 7.0 times (AOR, 0.50-99.2) to residents in urbanized areas, and 1.4 times (AOR, 0.10-20.9) in pregnant women with a high educational level. In conclusion, infectious diseases are a public health burden among pregnant women in Luanda. However, include an integrated antenatal screening mainly in urbanized areas is crucial to reduce the spread of infectious diseases in different communities of Angola.