Rajeswari Pilli1 , N. Padmaja2 , Deborah Purushottam M.3
BACKGROUND Most of the liver diseases worldwide is caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections which manifest both as acute and chronic illnesses. HBV and HCV together cause chronic infection in more than 500 million people and deaths in one million. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present study was done to evaluate the proportion of HBV, HCV and HBV-HCV coinfections. METHODS Study was done from November to January 2020 and blood samples were collected from patients attending the inpatient and outpatient departments in KIM’s hospital, Amalapuram. A total of 1850 blood samples were taken from patients before undergoing any invasive or surgical procedure for testing anti-HCV antibodies and Hepatitis B surface antigen. Tests were done by using Hepacard rapid immunochromatographic test for HBsAg and HCV Tridot ELISA for HCV antibodies. RESULTS Proportion of HBV and HCV was found to be 2.0 % and 3.1 % respectively with higher rates in males. HBV is found in majority of patients in 20 - 30 years age group; whereas, HCV was more commonly seen in 61 - 70 years age group. Coinfection with HBV and HCV was seen in 0.10 % of the individuals visiting the hospital. CONCLUSIONS Screening of high-risk individuals is compulsory because of comparatively higher rate of HBV and HCV infections among the hospital-based population. Most important preventive measure to control HBV and HCV infection is to bring awareness among people by health education of safe sexual practices and improved safety of blood and its products.
