Prevalence Of Hepatitis C Infection In A Tertiary Care Hospital In South India

Abstract

Introduction: Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver which can be caused by different infectious agents. Hepatitis C is one of the causes of Hepatitis and may lead to hepatocellular carcinoma. Diagnosis of infection is based on antibody detection using serological methods. Materials & Methods: Serum samples were collected from clinically diagnosed Hepatitis patients and screened for anti-HCV antibodies using Immunochromatographic card test and confirmed by ELISA. Results: Among 333 serum samples collected, 8 were reactive for antibodies to HCV with a prevalence of 2.4% All these 8 sero-reactive patients belonged to a high risk group as they were undergoing dialysis. Conclusion: Hence screening of high risk groups and population based studies will help us to identify prevalence rates in different regions.

Keywords

• hepatitis c
• inflammation
• elisa