Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Hepatitis B and C in Nawabshah, Sindh, Pakistan.

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Hepatitis B and C in Nawabshah, Sindh, Pakistan. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Dec 21;: Authors: Samo AA, Laghari ZA, Baig NM, Khoso GM Abstract In Pakistan, viral hepatitis is a serious public health problem affecting millions of people. Both hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections are spreading rapidly in all provinces of Pakistan, including Sindh, because of lack of knowledge about routes of transmission, low literacy rate, reuse of syringes, piercing, and other factors. However, information about the prevalence and risk factors is inadequate. So, a general population-based study was conducted to determine the prevalence rate and risk factors of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in Nawabshah. Healthy individuals were screened for hepatitis B and hepatitis C using an immunochromatographic rapid test followed by confirmation through ELISA and PCR. Information about sociodemographic and risk factors was obtained through a pretested questionnaire. Descriptive frequencies, odds ratio, and CI were calculated using SPSS software version 23. In total, 523 participants were screened for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, among whom 232 were females and 291 were males. The overall prevalence of hepatitis C and hepatitis B was 14.3% and 6.7%, respectively. In a bivariate analysis, hepatitis B infection was significantly associated with risk factors such as hospitalization, blood transfusion, needle injury, multiple s...
Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Tags: Am J Trop Med Hyg Source Type: research