Agha Babar Hussain, Yousuf Kazmi, Masood Anwar, Waheeduz Zaman Tariq, Shujaat Hussain, Tassawar Hussain.
Inactive HCV infection.
Pak J Pathol Jan ;13(2):4-6.

A descriptive study was carried out from April to Oct 2002 at Virology department, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Rawalpindi, to determine the frequency of inactive infection in HCV infected individuals.Fifteen hundred and eighteen patients with anti HCV positive serostatus were included in this study. These patients were referred for the detection of serum HCV RNA by PCR. A performa was filled for each patient, to note down relevant details. These anti-HCV positive patients were evaluated for HCV activity before start of interferon treatment. Qualitative testing for the detection of HCV RNA in all these specimens was carried out by reagent kit of AMPLICOR ver 2.0 Roche. Out of 1518 cases, 361(23.8%) had no detectable HCV RNA, while 1157(76.2%) were PCR positive with detectable viraemia. There was no significant difference in percentage of negativity in male (23.8%) and female (23.8%) patients. The overall rate of PCR negativity was better in older patients. Out of 1518 cases, 361(23.8%) had no detectable HCV RNA, while 1157(76.2%) were PCR positive with detectable viraemia. There was no significant difference in percentage of negativity in male (23.8%) and female (23.8%) patients. The overall rate of PCR negativity was better in older patients. We conclude that in our setup the rate of inactive infection is 23.8%, which is relatively better than the same quoted in other studies.

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