Global Prevalence of HIV and/or HBV Co-infections among People Who Inject Drugs and Female Sex Workers living with HCV: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is one of the most common infections worldwide andco-infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) canworsen the progression of liver disease. The aim of this study was to estimate the globalprevalence of HIV or HBV co-infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) and femalesex workers (FSWs) living with HCV.Material and Methods: Data sources were searched from January 2008 to October 2018. Allcross-sectional articles that reported prevalence of HIV/AIDS or HBV among PWID and FSWsliving with HCV were included. Qualitative evaluation of studies based on Newcastle-OttawaQuality Assessment Scale (NOS) was performed. Data were analyzed in Stata 14 softwareusing MetaProp command.Results: The results pooled using random effects meta-analyses. A total of 9 articles wereanalyzed. One article reported HIV prevalence in FSWs and the rest were in PWID. Theprevalence of HIV/AIDS in PWID with anti-HCV and HCV-RNA was 33% and 35% and theprevalence of HBV in PWID with anti-HCV and HCV-RNA was 6% and 4%, respectively.The highest prevalence of HCV/HIV and HCV/HBV co-infections were in South-East Asiaregion.Conclusions: HCV/HIV and HBV/HCV co-infection are higher in PWID than generalpopulation. In order to manage, control, and eliminate hepatitis C, people with this virus needto be screened for HIV/AIDS and HBV.