Implications of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV among Infected Pregnant Women and their Infants attending a PMTCT ARV Clinic in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is a major means through which HIV infected pregnant mothers pass the virus to their infants. This study aimed to assess the implications of MTCT of HIV among infected Pregnant Women and their Infants.Methods:60 consenting HIV infected pregnant women attending a PMTCT ARV clinic in Ibadan, were followed up for eighteen months. Data were captured using structured questionnaire and analyzed to identify associations. Results: The mother’s age range was 24-41 years with a mean of 32.9 years, while the infant’s median age was 35 days. 32 (72.7%) of them were females with mean birth weight of 3.10 Kg. MTCT of HIV was 4.5% (2/44). Majority of the respondents were of parity 1 (22.7%) and parity 2 (27.3%) and are in monogamous marriage (81.8%), while predominant religion and occupation were Christianity (59.1%) and Trading (56.8%). Viral load was negatively correlated with hemoglobin (r=-0.334), lymphocyte (r=-0.188), and neutrophil (- 0.151) but positively correlated with WBC count (r=0.141). However, between pregnancy and birth CD4 count increased from 503 to 716 (p<0.001). Viral load at birth was higher in positive babies (Mean=4.13, SD=0.06) than negative (mean=1.18, SD=0.71) with p=0.001. Conclusions: This study identified high risk as predictors of MTCT of HIV among exposed infants on follow up with severe implicating consequences. Therefore, testing for pregnant women for HIV should be a national priority, hence the need for more sensitization on the utilization of PMTCT program in Nigeria

Acute Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Two Geographical Regions of Nigeria

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) remains a major public health concern in resource limited regions of the world. Yet data reporting is suboptimal and surveillance system is inadequate. In Nigeria, there is dearth of information on prevalence of acute HEV infection. This study was therefore designed to describe acute HEV infection among antenatal clinic attendees and community dwellers from two geographical regions in Nigeria. Seven hundred and fifty plasma samples were tested for HEV IgM by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique. The tested samples were randomly selected from a pool of 1,115 blood specimens previously collected for viral hepatitis studies among selected populations (pregnant women, 272; Oyo community dwellers, 438; Anambra community dwellers, 405) between September 2012 and August 2013. One (0.4%) pregnant woman in her 3rd trimester had detectable HEV IgM, while community dwellers from the two study locations had zero prevalence rates of HEV IgM. Detection of HEV IgM in a pregnant woman, especially in her 3rd trimester, is of clinical and epidemiological significance. The need therefore exists for establishment of a robust HEV surveillance system in Nigeria and especially amidst the pregnant population in a bid to improve maternal and child health