Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection in Kohat division,Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa,Pakistan

The current study was conducted to investigate prevalence of hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection in kohat division. a total of 270 ict (immunuochromatography test) positive male and female subjects were included in this study and divided into three groups according to their age. blood samples were collected and processed to confirm the anti-hcv status and data was collected on pretested questionnaires to identify the risk factors. out of 270 ict positive patients,224 were confirmed positive by elisa (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay). results revealed that male population was more affected (46.29%) as compared to female (36.66%). the people with age group 15-40 years were found to be more affected (87.03%) followed by above 40 years (30.37%).the mean age group of hcv positive for male was 37.57±7.85 while for female i.e.,38.26±8.47. infection was related to different risk factors and it was observed that 69.25% patients have the history of hospitalization,50.37% piercing,39.25% blood transfusion,17.40% dental treatment,31.85% surgical procedure,22.22%have shaving practices at barber shops while 14.44% have tattooing on body. statistical analysis shows that both educational and occupational status is significantly associated with anti-hcv antibody. other factors associated significantly with infection were blood transfusion (p-value <0.0001,or (odds ratio) =0.021,ci (confidence interval) =0.0050-0.0913),dental treatment (p-value=0.0059,or=0.367,ci=0.176-0.764) and diagnosis in family member (p-value=0.0012,or=0.3508,ci=0.183-0.6710). most of the factors associated significantly with infection are demographic and hospital associated,reflecting the fact of unawareness of disease in public,improper sterilization of instruments in hospitals and poor blood screening facility. copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.