Asghar Javaid, Sardar Muhammad Al-fareed Zafar.
Prevalence of Hepatitis C in Apparently Suspected Individuals of Southern Punjab by Highly Sensitive Chemiluminescence Immunoassay.
J Fatima Jinnah Med Coll Lahore Jan ;8(3):57-63.

Background: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is increasing worldwide .Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections accounts for substantial proportions of the world wide liver disease. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of Anti-HCV among suspected patients for hepatitis by community doctors attending collection centers of Aga Khan University Hospital's clinical laboratory Karachi in Southern Punjab. Place and Duration: A retrospective study was conducted from January 2011 to June 2011 at Multan Stat Laboratory of Aga Khan University Hospital. Methods: A total of 3341 suspected patients were received at collection centers and included in this study. The screening was performed by using the Elecsys Anti-HCV II assay kit on Cobas e 411 immunoassay analyzer. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16 statistical package. Results: From the total of 3341 suspected hepatitis patients, 2045 (61.20%) were males and 1296 (38.80%) were females. Anti-HCV was found reactive in 1002 (29.99%) borderline 20 (0.59%) and nonreactive in 2319 (69.42%). Out of the total individuals, 589 (17.63%) males and 413 (12.36%) females were Anti-HCV reactive. . . The overall seroprevalence was found to be 29.99%. LODHRAN (70%), VEHARI (49.55%), KHANEWAL (44%) and BAHAWALNAGER (37.7%) are most affected districts for HCV infection. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of HCV is alarming high. Males were more affected. It is required to prevent the disease by giving education to the health personal as well as to general population.

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