scholarly journals Epidemiological Study of Anti HCV Antibodies in Rural Punjab

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Amir Gilani ◽  
Muhammad Athar Khan ◽  
Muhammad Zahid Latif ◽  
Muhammad Azam Malik ◽  
Muhammad Arif ◽  
...  

AbstractBackground:  Hepatitis C virus infection is a very serious and alarming public health concern worldwide. The virus is transmitted through blood and blood related infected products. However sexual and vertical transmission is also reported. Although the infection by Hepatitis C virus is endemic in nature but prevalence as well as incidence has escalating trend in Pakistan particularly in the rural areas. In the beginning it is an asymptomatic infection and majority of the victims remain unaware about the disease.Objectives:  To determine the seroprevalence of Hepatitis C in Rural Punjab, Pakistan.Methods:  A descriptive epidemiological cross sectional study was conducted from July 2013 to June 2015 in the rural Punjab of Pakistan. The province of Punjab was divided into three zones namely CentralSouthern and Northern zone. Three districts from each zone were sampled and later on three villages from each district were selected. Probability based sampling technique was used however in certain situations the total population was selected. A total sample of 2400 participants was selected with 800 from each zone of Punjab.Results:  A total of 2400 subjects from three zones of Punjab participated in this study. Out of these 2400 participants 520 (21.6%) were sero positive against Anti HCV antibodies. Anti HCV positive cases were higher (24.8%) in Northern Punjab as compared to (23.1%) in Central and (17%) in Southern rural Punjab respectively.Conclusion:  This study concludes that prevalence of HCV infection is highly endemic among the rural population of Punjab and accounts for 21.6% of the studied population. The prevalence is highest in rural northern Punjab followed by the central and southern Punjab. Drivers and helpers of the farmers are the maximally infected occupations. It is recommended to plan and implement a population based hepatitis awareness and screening campaign for the affected and general population.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luk Van Baelen ◽  
Johan Van der Heyden

Abstract Reliable hepatitis C prevalence estimates are crucial for a good follow-up of the indicators to eliminate hepatitis by 2030 as set by the World Health Organization. In Belgium, no recent national population-based hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence estimate is available. The current study estimated HCV prevalence as part of the first Belgian Health Examination Survey, which was organized in 2018 as a second stage of the sixth Belgian Health Interview Survey. This national population-based cross-sectional study resulted in a weighted national HCV seroprevalence of 0.02% (95% CI 0.00–0.07%). The results show a much lower HCV seroprevalence compared to previous studies.


Author(s):  
Okeke Okechukwu Chizoba ◽  
Ajulu A Chibuogwu

Background <br />Sexually transmitted infections and syphilis are a major public health concern. Hemodialysis patients are at an increased risk of acquiring hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of HBV, HCV, syphilis, and the association between these infections and hemodialysis among hemodialysis patients.<br /><br />Methods<br />A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 90 hemodialysis patients. Blood samples were collected and analysed for HBV, HCV and syphilis using immunochromatographic test kits. All subjects completed a questionnaire on demographic characteristics and other risk factors. A chi-square test was used to analyse the data.<br /><br />Results<br />The prevalence of HBV, HCV and syphilis infections was 4.4%, 6.7% and 2.2% respectively. Highest prevalence of HBV, HCV and syphilis were found in patients whose duration of dialysis were &gt;1 year, &gt;1 year, and 4 months to 1 year, respectively. Similarly, those who had undergone dialysis for &gt; 10 times had the highest prevalence of these infections. The major risk factor the patients was exposed to was blood transfusion (100%), with those who had been transfused for 5 times having the highest prevalence of HBV and HCV and those transfused twice for syphilis. A significant association was seen between duration of dialysis and HCV infection (p&lt;0.05).<br /><br />Conclusion<br />This study has demonstrated that duration of dialysis increased HCV infection in hemodialysis patients. The prevalence of HBV, HCV and syphilis in the hemodialysis unit is a warning that universal precautions will be the next challenge for decentralised hemodialysis services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 164 (9) ◽  
pp. 2243-2253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihene Bettaieb ◽  
Anissa Chouikha ◽  
Marwa Khedhiri ◽  
Ghassen Kharroubi ◽  
Malek Badreddine ◽  
...  

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2961
Author(s):  
Nafissatou Cisse Egbuonye ◽  
Ariun Ishdorj ◽  
E.L.J. McKyer ◽  
Rahma Mkuu

Malnutrition is a major public health concern in Niger. The stunting rate in children in Niger is over 50%, one of the highest in the world. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine children’s dietary diversity (CDD) and the maternal factors that impact CDD. A total of 1265 mother–child pairs were analyzed. Descriptive analysis was conducted to present maternal and child characteristics. To compare the mean scores of CDD in relation to the region, an independent sample t-test was conducted. A one-way ANOVA test was conducted to evaluate the CDD score by different age groups. A linear regression model was estimated to identify household, maternal and child factors that affect the CDD score. Our results indicate that most of the participants of our survey resided in rural areas and the majority (80.7%) of the mothers had no education. Factors such as region, children’s age, woman’s empowerment, vitamin A intake and wealth index were significant predictors of CDD (p < 0.05). The children residing in rural areas were more likely to have lower CDD scores (p < 0.05) than the children in urban areas, therefore becoming more susceptible to malnutrition.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-156
Author(s):  
Maryann C. Ezeilo ◽  
Godwill A. Engwa ◽  
Romanus I. Iroha ◽  
Damian N. Odimegwu

Background:The lack of a vaccine for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) places children at a high risk of contracting the infection. It becomes necessary to accurately diagnose this infection for proper treatment as well as identifying potential risk factors for effective management.Aim:This study was conceived to assess the test performance of the commonly used Immunochromatographic test (ICT) strip and identify the associated clinical manifestations and risk factors of HCV in children in Enugu Metropolis.Method:A cross-sectional study involving randomly selected 270 children below six years of age was conducted in Enugu Nigeria. The subjects were screened for anti-HCV by ICT and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and the demographic, signs and symptoms and risk factors were collected.Results:A total of 50 out of 270 children were positive for anti-HCV with a seropositivity of 18.5%. ICT strip had a very low sensitivity of 38.00% with an accuracy of 88.52% in detecting anti-HCV. The presence of dark urine was associated (p= 0.01) with HCV infection.Conclusion:A seroprevalence of 18.5% of Anti-HCV was found in children below six years old in Enugu metropolis and the performance of ICT in diagnosing HCV infection was poor compared to ELISA.


1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 463-468
Author(s):  
JAVED IQBAL FAROOQI ◽  
RUKHSANAJAVED FAROOQI ◽  
RIAZMUHAMMAD ◽  
ZAFAR ALI ◽  
ABDURREHMAN ◽  
...  

Background: Both HBV super-infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C and HCV super-infectionin patients with chronic hepatitis B have been reported. In case of co-infection, hepatitis B and C interactwith each other and affect immune responses resulting in active HCV with inactive HBV, active HBVwith inactive HCV, both active and both inactive. The objective of our study was to find out andcorrelate the virological and clinical profile in our patients with chronic hepatitis B and C co-infection.Material and Methods: This observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted atMedical ‘A’ Ward, PGMI, LRH Peshawar and Author’s Private Hepatology Clinic, from July 2010 toJune 2014. All patients with HBsAg and Anti-HCV Reactive by ELISA for more than six months wereincluded in the study. Following investigations were carried out in these patients: Serum ALT, HBeAg,anti-HBe, HBV DNA PCR, HCV RNA PCR, and abdominal ultrasound. Data was entered and analyzedusing SPSS version 16.0.Results: A total of 130 patients were included in the analysis, out of which 81 (62.3%) were males.Mean age of patients was 40.52±14.27 years. Majority of patients belonged to age-group of 21-30 years.Mean serum ALT of patients was 83.69±60.48 U/L. Majority of patients belonged to ALT-Group of 41-80 U/L. Hepatitis C Virus was the dominant virus in 53% of patients. Chronic Hepatitis was thedominant clinical profile in 73% of patients.Conclusion: Hepatitis C Virus is the dominant virus in our patients with BC co-infection. There is nostatistically significant association between virological and clinical profile of these patients.Key Words: Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, BC Co-infection, Chronic Hepatitis, Cirrhosis,Hepatocellular Carcinoma


Author(s):  
Bushra . ◽  
Ambreen Ghori ◽  
Azra Ahmed ◽  
Najma Dalwani ◽  
Mushtaque Ali Shah ◽  
...  

Background: Pregnancy is a very crucial time in a woman’s life. In this period of time, not only multiple physiological alterations effect the usual health status but also makes women more vulnerable to contract infection and face negative sequalae. Hepatitis C, a blood borne viral infection serve the similar fate when encountered by pregnant ladies. This study is based on exploring the prevalence of the Hepatitis C virus seropositivity among pregnant population. Moreover, we also evaluated the major risk factors leading to the infection in these mothers. Besides this, infected mothers were studied for their pregnancy outcomes.Methods: In this study 114 pregnant females were observed for this cross-sectional study. It was conducted in Gynecology Unit- 1, Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad, for the period of January 2017 to July 2017. Chi square test was applied for statistical analysis on SPSS version 16. The criteria for enrollment in the study was set to be a pregnant lady belonging to age group 20-35 years; having singleton pregnancy; was a booked case at the hospital with compliant to antenatal follow ups; admitted to the labor room for delivery. All the non-pregnant ladies, whom had co morbid conditions such as hypertension or diabetes or had infected with hepatitis B or D were excluded from the study. Furthermore, pregnant ladies with multiple gestion or those who were either diagnosed of hepatitis C prior to conceive or had a previous history of hepatitis C were also excluded.Results: Present study revealed that out of 114, 10(8.8%) pregnant ladies were found seropositive for Hepatitis C virus. Prior history for transfusion of blood was the Foremost risk factor discovered, with 60.5% women reported this. History of surgery was the 2nd commonest factor and 43.9% had this in their medical records. On the other hand, only 8.8% women gave the history for previous evacuation. While observing pregnancy outcomes, we found 48.2% neonates had low birth weight, 41.2% were born preterm and 21.1% had low APGAR score.Conclusions: In a nutshell hepatitis c is prevalent in the pregnant population of this region and showing its effects in the form of compromised pregnancies. History of blood transfusion and previous surgery were found to be chief risk factors in the study.


2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-213755
Author(s):  
Liying Xing ◽  
Yuanmeng Tian ◽  
Li Jing ◽  
Min Lin ◽  
Zhi Du ◽  
...  

ObjectivesTo evaluate the up-to-date epidemiology of diabetes in northeast China.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2017 and March 2019 using a multistage, stratified and cluster random sampling method. 18 796 participants (28.9% urban and 71.1% rural) aged ≥40 years were enrolled. Diabetes and pre-diabetes were diagnosed according to the history, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels.ResultsThe prevalence of diabetes was 17.1%, higher in urban than in rural residents (20.2% vs 15.8%, p<0.001). Meanwhile, the prevalence of pre-diabetes was 44.3%, higher in rural than in urban areas (49.4% vs 31.8%, p<0.001). The overall FPG and HbA1c were 6.10±1.94 mmol/L and 5.59%±1.08%. The FPG level was higher in rural area than in urban areas (6.15±1.83 mmol/L vs 5.97±2.18 mmol/L, p<0.001). Among participants with diabetes, 47.5% were aware of their diabetes condition; 39.5% were taking antidiabetic medications and 36.8% of people had their diabetes controlled. The awareness and treatment rates in rural areas were lower than those in urban areas (47.3% vs 57.5%, 34.4% vs 49.5%, p<0.001). Patients with diabetic, especially those in rural areas, tended to have multiple risk factors including hypertension (71.7%), overweight or obesity (69.6%) and dyslipidaemia (52.8%).ConclusionA considerable burden of diabetes was observed in northeast China, with high percentage of untreated diabetes, high prevalence of pre-diabetes, high overall FPG level and multiple uncontrolled risk factors in patients with diabetics. Therefore, region-specific strategies on prevention and management of diabetes should be emphasised.


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