Long-term effect of chronic hepatitis B on mortality in HIV-infected persons in a differential HBV transmission setting

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases 2022-05, Vol.22 (1), p.500-500, Article 500
• Main Authors: Umutesi, Justine, Nsanzimana, Sabin, Yingkai Liu, Carol, Vanella, Patrizio, Ott, Jördis J, Krause, Gérard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Alcohol use; Antigens; Care and treatment; Casualties; Chronic hepatitis B; Cohort analysis; Cohort study; Confidence intervals; Diagnosis; Disease transmission; Drinking behavior; Health care; Health facilities; Health risks; Hepatitis; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B surface antigen; Hepatitis C; HIV; HIV patients; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immunization; Infections; Infectious diseases; Medical tests; Mortality; Mortality risk; Population; Public health; Regression analysis; Risk factors; Rwanda; Statistical analysis; Statistical models; Sub-Saharan Africa; Tuberculosis; Variables
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-022-07477-1

There remain gaps in quantifying mortality risk among individuals co-infected with chronic hepatitis B (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in sub-Saharan African contexts. Among a cohort of HIV-positive individuals in Rwanda, we estimate the difference in time-to mortality between HBV-positive (HIV/HBV co-infected) and HBV-negative (HIV mono-infected) individuals. Using a dataset of HIV-infected adults screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) from January to June 2016 in Rwanda, we performed time-to-event analysis from the date of HBsAg results until death or end of study (31 December 2019). We used the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate probability of survival over time and Cox proportional hazard models to adjust for other factors associated with mortality. Of 21,105 available entries, 18,459 (87.5%) met the inclusion criteria. Mean age was 42.3 years (SD = 11.4) and 394 (2.1%) died during follow-up (mortality rate = 45.7 per 100,000 person-months, 95% confidence interval (CI) 41.4-50.4) Mortality rate ratio for co-infection was 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.6, however, Cox regression analysis did not show any association with mortality between compared groups. The adjusted analysis of covariates stratified by co-infection status showed that males, residing outside of the capital Kigali, drinking alcohol, WHO-HIV-clinical stage 3 and 4 were associated with increased mortality in this HIV cohort. HBV infection does not significantly influence mortality among HIV-infected individuals in Rwanda. The current cohort is likely to have survived a period of high-risk exposure to HBV and HIV mortality and limited health care until their diagnosis.