To determine frequency of occult hepatitis B virus infection in chronic hepatitis C patients

Background: chronic hepatitis b and c are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide,approximately 2 billion and 350 million world population is infected with hepatitis b virus (hbv) and hepatitis c virus (hcv) respectively. aim: to determine the frequency of occult hepatitis b virus (ohbv) infection in ch.hepatitis c patients. place and duration: the study was conducted at fauji foundation hospital,rawalpindi,from feb'28 2015 to aug 28'2015. methods: 105 male and female patients having anti hepatitis c antibody and polymerase chain reaction (pcr) for hepatitis - c rna (ribo nucleic acid) positive presented to emergency room/opd were evaluated. in all these cases pcr for hbv-dna (hepatitis b virus- deoxy-ribo nucleic acid) levels were measured by microlab 200 analyzer using end point method. results: mean age (years) was 47.29+9.15 with 24(22.9) male patients and 81(77.1) female patients. 8(7.6%) patients were positive for occult hepatitis b infection in chronic hepatitis c patients. conclusion: it is advisable that physicians and gastroenterologists should perform pcr for hbv-dna in every hcv positive patient before starting any treatment as a protocol instead of relying only on hbsag positivity to rule out dual infection. � 2016,lahore medical and dental college. all rights reserved.