Sero-Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus by using Different Diagnostic Techniques in Hazara Division of Pakistan

Abstract

Current study was focused on RT-PCR based prevalence of HCV among different areas i.e. Battagram, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Haripur and age groups i.e. (? 25 yrs), (25-50 yrs) and (? 50 yrs) of Hazara division of Pakistan. RT-PCR is considered to be a most reliable diagnostic technique. In this study total 1000 patients (n=1000) who were confirmed HCV positive by rapid Device test and ELISA method, which were further evaluated by RT-PCR. HCV RNA was isolated from patient sample serum which was further quantified and amplified by RT-PCR. The highest infection rate was found in Mansehra (21.2%), Abbottabad (15.5%), Battagram (6.8%) and Haripur (3.8%) respectively. Similarly, the highest infection rate was found in age group 25-50 years (33%) while lowest infected age group was less than 25 years (7.4%). It was thus concluded that it is very crucial to screen HCV patients by using RT-PCR to avoid necessary false positive values.