Nasir Khokhar, Muzaffar Lateef Gill, Ghazala Javaid Malik.
General seroprevalence of Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B virus infections in population.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;14(9):534-6.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection by detection of anti-HCV and hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) in general population of Pakistan. Design: Observational. Place and Duration of Study: Community clinic of Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, from January 1998 to June 2004. Materials and Methods: Sera of healthy adult individuals who presented for medical evaluation as a pre-employment criteria in the Gulf region were examined for presence of hepatitis B surface antigen and anti-HCV antibody. Alanine aminotransferase levels were also determined. Results: A total of 47,538 individuals were examined. Out of these, 2528 (5.31%) were positive for anti-HCV and 1221 (2.56%) individuals had positive HBsAg. Hepatitis B surface antigen and anti-HCV both were found in 92 (0.19%) individuals. Mean age of subjects, positive for HCV antibody was 44 years and 40.5 years for HBV. Ninety-four percent individuals were males and 6% were females. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was normal in 56 % of subjects with positive HCV and 84% of individuals with HBV. Conclusion: This study which evaluated predominantly a healthy male population, showed a high seroprevalence of anti-HCV and average seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus infection. A large majority of these patients was young and had normal ALT.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com