Amjad Iqbal, Huma Farrukh, Shahid Aslam, Tehreem Iqbal, Khushbakhat Khan.
Frequency of hepatitis C in beta-thalassemia major patients.
Rawal Med J Jan ;38(4):328-31.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of hepatitis C virus infection in children with β- thalassemia major at Military Hospital Rawalpindi. Study design: Descriptive – cross sectional study Place and duration of study: Study was conducted at Military hospital from 11th October 2009 to 10th April 2010. Subjects and methods: Total 95 diagnosed cases of β-thalassemia major were included in the study. They were screened for presence or absence of Anti-HCV antibodies by 3rd generation ELISA technique. Results: Out of total 95 patients, there were 60% (n=57) male and 40% (n=38) female patients. Forty (42.1 %) were found to have anti HCV positive while 55 (57.9%) patients were anti HCV negative. Mean age of anti-HCV positive patients was 10.4±3.54 years. Mean age of anti-HCV negative patients was 8.2 ±3.12 years (p-value 0.01). Thus HCV positive patients were significantly older HCV negative patients. Conclusion: The frequency of HCV infection in our patients with β-thalassemia major receiving multiple transfusions was very high. There is urgent need to ensure the universal availability of screened blood and introduce more effective screening methods.

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