Frequency of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C virus infections in transfusion dependant children

Objective: transfusion transmitted viral infections are more frequent in developing countries like pakistan due to lack of facilities for proper donor screening against these viruses. this study was carried out to determine the frequency of hepatitis b and hepatitis c virus in children suffering from transfusion dependant hematological diseases. place and duration of study: department of hematology and transfusion medicine,the children's hospital and institute of child health lahore during 6 months period from 1-10-2008 to 31-3-2009. subjects and method: we selected 120 transfusion dependant children,up to 15 years of age and screened them for hepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag) and anti hepatitis c virus antibody (anti-hcv antibody) using beckman coulter access immunoassay system. data was analyzed and frequencies of hepatitis b and hepatitis c virus infections were obtained. results: out of 120 children,11 (9.2%) were positive for hbsag and 65 (54.2%) for anti hcv antibody. conclusion: a significant number of transfusion dependant children were infected with hepatitis b and hepatitis c.