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Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection in a tertiary care hospital
Atul Kumar Sood1, Manish Manrai2, Sandeep Thareja3
1Commandant, Military Hospital Dehradun, C/o 56 APO, India.
Insights
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is prevalent in adults aged 40-60 in Punjab and Haryana. Intravenous drug abuse is a significant risk factor among young adults, necessitating targeted interventions.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection epidemiology requires further elucidation.
- This study addresses gaps by examining asymptomatic HCV-positive individuals at a tertiary care hospital.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of asymptomatic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
- To identify prevalence, risk factors, and demographic patterns in Punjab and Haryana.
Main Methods:
- Prospective observational study of 1012 anti-HCV positive patients from July 2011 to April 2016.
- Data collection included demographics, symptoms, risk factors, family screening, and geographical prevalence.
- Statistical analysis focused on risk factor prevalence across different age groups.
Main Results:
- The study included 1012 patients, with a median age of 52; 79.25% were from Punjab.
- The 40-60 age group constituted 40% of cases. Surgery history was the most common risk factor (24.01%).
- Intravenous (IV) drug abuse was a significant risk factor in young adults (≤30 years), with a p-value of 0.001.
Conclusions:
- HCV infection is common in specific districts of Punjab and Haryana, particularly among adults aged 40-60.
- Intravenous drug abuse poses a considerable risk among young adults.
- Further large-scale, population-based studies are recommended to confirm these findings.
Background:
There are epidemiological lacunae in literature of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We report a prospective observational study of asymptomatic HCV infected patients from a tertiary care Government Hospital.
Methods:
All consecutive asymptomatic antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) positive patients were studied from July 2011 to April 2016. Patients were reviewed for demographic factors including symptom profile, risk factors, family screening, and point prevalence in relation to various districts of Punjab and Haryana.
Results:
One thousand twelve patients were studied with median age of 52 years (range:13-85) with a male to female ratio of 0.87. Eight hundred (79.25%) patients were from Punjab and 110 (10.67%) from Haryana. Forty percent patients were in 40-60 age group. Six hundred seventy patients (66.21%) did not have any apparent risk factor, 274 (27.08%) had one risk factor, and 68 patients (6.72%) had > 2 risk factors. Commonest risk factor was h/o surgery in 243 patients (24.01%), 32 patients had h/o IV drug abuse and 29 among them were < 30 years. Three hundred and sixty-seven families and children were screened, and 27 spouses and 16 children were found to be anti-HCV positive. The risk factor of IV drug abuse was more common in the younger adults with age ≤ 30 years as compared with age > 30 years (p = 0.001).
Conclusion:
HCV infection was common in certain districts of Punjab and common in adults of 40-60 years. This finding needs to be confirmed in larger population-based study. The IV drug abuse is the risk factor of concern among young adults.
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