The percentage was high when compared with the United Kingdom14 and Austrian studies2, having 1.7% and 10% co-infection respectively. acquisition. Results Results indicated sero-prevalence of HIV and HCV in the sampled populace was 3% and 5% respectively. Thirty three percent of the pregnant women that were HCV positive were co-infected with HIV-1 contamination. HIV sero-prevalence was highest in the age group, 25C29 representing 5.1%, while HCV sero-prevalence was noted highest among the women in the age group 30C34 years, representing 7.9%. Two percent of the pregnant women had equivocal (ambivalent) HIV-1 results. Conclusion The study has shown a prevalence of HIV-HCV co-infection among the tested pregnant women in Benin City and more epidemiological surveys are needed in larger scale to decipher the prevalence in other says of Nigeria. value 0.05 (2=0.52, em P /em =0.4704). Discussion This is probably the first study around the prevalence of HCV and HIV-1 co-infection Pioglitazone hydrochloride among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinic in Benin City Nigeria. Although not statistically significant, a 33% co-infection was noted in this study and it should be noted with astuteness that this kits used were not confirmatory. The percentage was high when compared with the United Kingdom14 and Austrian studies2, having 1.7% and 10% co-infection respectively. The reason for this may have been due to the fact that confirmatory test such as nucleic acid test for HCV RNA or Recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) was not used to confirm all reactive samples following rapid screening. Studies conducted earlier, depending on the risk group (not pregnant) being described, have reported 50 to 90% of HIV-1 positive individuals being co-infected with HCV15. The co-infection of HIV-1 and HCV noted in this Pioglitazone hydrochloride study is very important for several reasons, bearing in mind that there is a possibility of mother-to-child and female-to-male transmission of HCV. The management of the two infections is quite different and some studies have established that HIV co-infection accelerates the progression of HCV contamination and vice-versa16,17. In this study where all the women supposedly have a stable relationship with their partners, sexual intercourse may be the main means of transmission as some reports have shown that sexual intercourse may transmit HCV18. One report has established that even casual contact among members of the same household19 can transmit HCV. The 5% prevalence of HCV in the pregnant women sampled did not show any association for previous blood transfusion, although only one HCV positive woman had a history of blood transfusion. This value was lower compared with the previous work of Halim and Ajayi20 that reported a 12.3% HCV prevalence among volunteer blood donors in Nigeria. As regards risk of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis C computer virus, two separate studies have found that 3% and 0.5% of blood transfused in a tertiary hospital in Benin City, and Portharcourt, Nigeria were infected with HCV 25, 26. The 3% prevalence of HIV among the pregnant women studied could be very significant. In Nigeria, with about 25% of the African populace, a recent national HIV prevalence sentinel survey by the Federal Ministry of health showed that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2003 was between 3.2 and 3.8 million13. According to the report, the Rabbit polyclonal to HEPH age group 20C24 years had the highest national prevalence of 5.6 per cent, and the HIV prevalence for women aged 15C24 years remains 5.2 per cent. Recently, the United Nations AIDS program (UNAIDS) estimated that around 22 million people around the world have died from AIDS, and about 40 million more are currently infected with the computer virus. Pioglitazone hydrochloride Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hardest by the pandemic: about 83% (18.26 million) of AIDS deaths and 71% (28.4million) of HIV infections have occurred in some war-ravaged, poverty stricken part.