Muhammad Rafaih Iqbal, Yaseen Rafi, Haroon Rafi Ul Islam, Khalid Javed Abid.
Screening for Hepatitis B & C in a surgical ward.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;6(3):564-7.

Objective: To find out the seroprevelence of HBsAg and Anti-HCV and evaluation of the risk factors Design: Prospective descriptive study Setting: West Surgical Ward, Mayo Hospital, Lahore Duration: 1st Jan 2011 to 31st Dec 2011 Patients: Patients of either sex more than 13 years of age undergoing elective surgery Methodology: Screening for HBsAg and AntiHCV was done in all the patients with Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) in the preoperative period. The information was recorded on a pre designed proforma which included the current and previous hepatitis profile, risk factors, history of vaccination along with the demographic data. Results: A total number of 1185 patients underwent elective surgery during the study period. There were a total of 580 (48.9%) males and 605 (51.1%) females. 35 patients (2.9%) were found to be HBsAg positive , 170 patients (14.3%) were found to be Anti HCV positive while none were found to be both HBsAg and AntiHCV positive. Conclusion: The number of patients suffering from Hepatitis B and C is very high. Screening for HBsAg and AntiHCV should be a mandatory investigation in all the patients undergoing surgery.

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