Prevalence of Hepatitis C virus and its risk factors in blood donors in district Peshawar.

ABSTRACT

The current study was designed in order to elucidate the most sensitive method for daily practice as well as to evaluate the risk factors for HCV infection associated with blood transfusion in District Peshawar. A total of 1400 healthy volunteer blood donors were tested for Anti-HCV. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the risk factors. Initial testing of all blood samples was done by Immuno Chromatographic Technique (ICT) and confirmed by micro particle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA) and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The comparison among ICT, ELISA and MEIA techniques was also evaluated for the purpose of sensitivity. Among 1400 blood donors, 26 (1.85%) cases were found positive for Anti-HCV. These 26 cases were positive on MEIA, 16 individuals were positive on ELISA while 14 were positive on ICT. These 26 cases had different histories of dental treatment (50%), traveled abroad (23.07%), surgery (11.53%), blood transfusion (7.69%) and unknown reason (7.69%). Among all these different histories of dental treatment and blood transfusion were the main risk factors for HCV infection. The results revealed that MEIA is a quick and reliable technique for routine screening of blood donors particularly for controlling the spread of HCV.