Seroprevalence and risk factors in blood-borne viral hepatitis cases attending a tertiary care hospital in Lucknow

Background: Blood-borne viral hepatitis is a major public health problem and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, worldwide. Data regarding prevalence of HBV and HCV in our region is not available. To study the prevalence and risk factors of viral Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C cases in patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Lucknow,U.P. Materials and methods: A prospective study of HBV and HCV positive cases was performed. Demographic details and risk factors were analyzed. Fisher’s exact test was used and a p value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Out of total 2737 patients screened 103 (3.7%) were found to be positive for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HB s Ag +ve) and 35 (1.7%) for anti-HCV antibody by rapid card test. Hepatitis B was more prevalent in males (45.6%) of 31-40 years age group (26.9%) with low education (27.2%) belonging to middle socioeconomic status (34.8%). Prevalence of HCV was more in illiterate (37.1%), females (13.8%) of 31-40 years age group (57.9%) belonging to middle socioeconomic status (45.7%). Use of unsterilized needle (29%) was the most common risk factor followed by drug abuse (23.2%) in both type of hepatitis cases. On comparison between HBV and HCV cases, statistically significant differencebetweenindoorandoutdoorpatients,malefemaleratio,literacylevels,socioeconomicstatusandriskfactorswasfound. Conclusion: P r e v a l e n c e o f H B V a n d H C V w e r e f o u n d t o b e i n v e r s e l y r e l a t e d t o education level and socioeconomic status. Therefore, preventive measures should include health education regarding parentral transmission of infection, implementation of stringent blood banking laws, use of disposable syringes/needles should be made mandatory and reuse of needles, shaving kitsandrazorbladesshouldbediscouraged.Inclusionof HBVimmunization in national immunization programmeis showingpositiveresults, asweobservedonlytwocasesofHBVin <10 yearsagegroup. Introduction Blood-borne viral hepatitis is caused by Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Hepatitis D virus (HDV). HBV and HCV infections are still one of the most common causes of acute and chronic liver disease world-wide. Viral hepatitis is a subject of profound concern and results in about 10,000 new research papers each year, from molecular structure to newest treatments. Major new advances in diagnosis and treatment have been made for better management of infected cases. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most important causative agent of blood borne hepatitis in humans. Hepatitis D Virus (HDV) infection occurs either as a coinfection or super-infection in HBV carriers. HepatitisB infection is a major health problem all over the world. There are presently about 350 million chronic carriers of HBV in the world population out of which around 50 million are inIndia. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major cause of transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis and continues to be a major cause of human liver disease throughout the world. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a parenterally transmitted virus that is responsible for 170 million cases of chronic hepatitis in the world. About 75-80% of those persons infected with HCV tend to become chronic carriers and the majority of these patients are asymptomatic. HBV carrier rate in India is approximately 4% and antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) are present in 1-1.5% of Indian population. The noted