Seroprevalence, Risk Factors and Genotyping of Hepatitis C Virus

Introduction: Parenterally transmitted viruses are a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the health care system of the modern world and the most sinister, though not the most common is the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). It is a major cause of liver disease worldwide and an emerging infection in India. HCV is known to have marked genetic heterogenicity. HCV genotypes exhibit different profiles of pathogenicity, infectivity and response to antiviral therapy. Aims and objectives:The study was aimed at detecting HCV seropositivity, probable risk factors, HIV/HBV co infections and common genotype prevalence in a tertiary care hospital in South India Materials and Methodology:This Cross sectional study was conducted from September 2011 to August 2013 on adult patients clinically suspected of hepatitis, blood donors attending blood bank, pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) clinic, renal dialysis patients and patients whose blood samples were received for pre-operative evaluation. Serum was subjected to ELISA for anti HCV antibody detection. Plasma collected from seropositives, genotyped by Real Time PCR. Results:Out of the 3581 serum samples that were screened, 32 were anti-HCV antibody positive (Seroprevalence0.89%). Highest number of HCV seropositivity were found between 41-50 years of age group. Blood transfusion was found to be highly significant risk factor (p = 0.004). Rate of HCV-HBV co-infection was 6.25% (2/32) and HCV-HIV co-infection was 3.12% (1/32). No concomitant HCV, HIV and HBV infection was detected. 12 samples were HCV Genotype 1(48%), 8 were Genotype 3 (32%) and 5 (20%)were untypeable. Conclusion:The study showed that seroprevalence of HCV is similar to most of the other studies in India. Blood transfusion is a major risk factor for HCV infection. HCV genotype 1 is widespread in this region of southern India along with, and perhaps predominating over, HCV genotype 3.