ISSN No. 2079-8547 (Recognized by PMDC)
PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS B AND C IN THALASSEMIA MAJOR PATIENTS
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Infection in thalassemia major patients
Materials and methods: This reterospective descriptive study was in conducted in thalassaemia center of Women
and Childern Teaching Hospital Bannu KPK Pakistan. The duration of study was two years (1st January,2013 to 31st
December,2014.
A total of 240 thalassemia cases with multiple transfusion were included in this study. Inclusion criteria was all thalassemia
patients who have received multiple transfusions (> 10 transfusions). Exclusion criteria was fresh thalassemia
patients and those with less than 10 transfusions. All these patients were screened for hepatitis B and C by Immunochromatographic
technique (ICT) and in case of positive screening tests these were confirmed by Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR).
Results: The age range was 01 – 13 years. Male were 142 (59.17%) and female were 98 (40.83%) with male to female
ratio of 1.31:1. Out of these 240 thalassemia patients 22 (9.16%) were positive for hepatitis C antibodies test and 17
(7.08%) were positive for hepatitis B cirus.
Conclusion: This study show high prevalence of HCV and HBV infections in thalassemic patients with increased ratio of
HCV infections as compared to HBV infections.
Key words: Thalassemia major, Hepatitis B and C, Complication of transfusion.