Frequency of Hepatitis B and C virus infection in Emergency Surgical Patients in Jinnah Hospital, Lahore
Fowad Karim, Kamran Ali, Shabbir Ahmad, Ruqayya Shahid, Shahbaz Amin
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ABSTRACT
Background: Hepatitis B and C is a global health issue in
developing countries because of multiple factors like lack of community health
education, illiteracy and poverty.
Aim: To find the
frequency of Hepatitis B and C virus infection among patients who present in Surgical
Emergency and to correlate risk factors for these infections.
Study design: Cross sectional study.
Methodology: Patients (n=200) were included in present study through non-probability,
convenient sampling technique. It was conducted in Accident and Emergency
Department, Jinnah Hospital Lahore, following approval from Hospital Ethical
Committee from Jan 2018 to Jun 2018. Both male and female patients (12-65 yrs)
who underwent emergency surgical procedures, were included while unwilling
subjects as well as patients having other medical issues were excluded. Data
analyzed by SPSS 21.0v.
Results: Thirty four patients
were found sero-positive for Anti-HCV Antibodies with prevalence rate of 17.0%
and 9 patients (4.5%) were HBsAg positive. Among the sero-positive patients
risk factors were IV injections, dental extraction, sharing of shaving razors,
jaundice, history of previous surgical operations.
Conclusion: This
study concluded that there was a declining attitude of HBV infection as
compared to HCV. However, educational status of the patients was
unsatisfactory. Hence, there is a need to educate the people regarding safety
measures.
Keywords:
Viral infections, HBsAg, Risk Factors and Emergency Surgeries.