co-infection of malaria and hepatitis b virus in port harcourt, rivers state, nigeria

Background: malaria and hepatitis b virus (hbv) are two diseases of major medical importance in nigeria. methods: the study determined the preponderance of malaria, hbv and their co-infection among 600 outpatients of three major hospitals in port harcourt, nigeria, using standard microscopic method and rapid serology assay diagnostic kit. results: total preponderance rate of malaria, hbv, and co-infection was observed to be 41.0%, 6.0%, and 4.33%, respectively. the female gender was more infected with malaria (44.67%) than the male counterparts (37.54%), while the males were more infected with hbv (7.12%) and co-infection (5.18%) than the females with 4.8% and 3.44%, respectively. the infection rate between genders was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). the prevalence of malaria was statistically high among the age group of 21 - 30 years (55.66%) (p < 0.05). hbv and co-infection prevalence rate was statistically the highest among the age group of 21 - 30 years with 11.76% and 10.3% rates of infection, respectively. conclusions: the high rate of malaria prevalence and the presence of hbv and co-infection among the study subjects imply that these infections are threats to the human health and strategies should be adopted to help combat and control these infections.