Identification of HBV and HCV transmission in multi-transfused Thalassemia patients of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Background Thalassemia patients need regular blood transfusion which saves their lives but increases the risk of acquiring viral infections like hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Objective(s) This study aimed to screen out the HCV and HBV infections in Thalassemia patients receiving regular blood in three centers of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan. Materials and Methods It was a cross sectional, multicenter study involving 224 Thalassemia patients. The study was carried out from August 2019 to January 2020 in Thalassemia centers of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zaid hospital Rawalakot, District Headquarters hospital (DHQ) Palandari, and Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Muzaffarabad, AJK. A total of 224 patients were screened out for HCV and HBV. Indirect ELISA was carried out to detect anti HCV antibodies while direct ELISA was carried out to detect the HBsAg from all the samples using commercially available ELISA kits. Results Overall, 12 patients (5.36%) were found to be positive for HBV while 63 (28.1%) were positive for HCV. HBV positive patients included 7 (5.69%) males and 5 (4.95%) females while HCV positive patients included 26 (41.27%) males and 37 (58.73%) female patients. Both the viruses were more common among elder patients as compared to younger patients. Conclusion Prevalence of HCV is very high and that of HBV is moderately high among Thalassemia patients of AJK.