Virology Journal (Jun 2011)

Prevalence of HCV among the high risk groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

  • Attache Safira,
  • Khan Sana U,
  • Rashid Farzana,
  • Munir Iqbal,
  • Iqbal Aqib,
  • Khan Najib U,
  • Rehman Latif U,
  • Siddique Lubna,
  • Ali Ijaz,
  • Swati Zahoor A,
  • Aslam Mehwish S

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-8-296
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
p. 296

Abstract

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Abstract Hepatitis C is an infectious disease, caused by blood borne pathogen; the Hepatitis C Virus. In this study we analyzed blood samples collected from various risk groups for the prevalence of anti-HCV and active HCV infection with the help of Immunochromtographic tests and nested PCR. The prevalence of active HCV infection among the high risk groups was 15.57% (26/167). The prevalence of HCV in individual risk groups was 15%, 28%, 8%, 14.28% and 14.28% in the case of thalassemics, dialysis, major surgery group, dental surgery group and injection drug users respectively. Our analysis reveals the fact that health care facilities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan are contributing a great deal towards the spread of HCV infection.