Open AccessSEROPOSITIVITY OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS;
Author(s) -
Syed Amir GilaniSyed Amir Gilani,
Muhammad Athar Khan,
Muhammad Zahid Latif,
Ahmad Azam Malik
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the professional medical journal/the professional medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2071-7733
pISSN - 1024-8919
DOI - 10.29309/tpmj/2017.24.12.569
Subject(s) - medicine , epidemiology , environmental health , rural area , demography , pathology , sociology
Objectives: This study was conducted to find out the occupation basedHCV prevalence in the rural communities of Punjab. Settings: Rural communities of Punjab,Pakistan. Study Design: Epidemiological, descriptive, cross sectional study. Study Period:January 2013 to June 2016. Methods: Punjab was divided into three regions. Three districtswere selected from each region and from each district three rural union councils were selected.After the approval of institutional review committee, non-probability convenience basedsampling technique was adopted and study subjects of different occupations were includedin the study. A structured questionnaire was prepared for data collection. Standard procedurefor HCV screening was observed. The collected data was organized and entered into version22 of SPSS for analysis. Results: A total of 1465 subjects related to ten different occupationsincluded in the study and tested for anti HCV antibodies, out of which 323 (22%) were positive.The prevalence was much higher in the collector of hospital garbage (67.2%) followed by factoryworkers (30.3%) and white wash painters (26.6%) respectively. The lowest prevalence rate wasobserved in black smith workers (10%) and carpenters (5.5%) only. Conclusion: This studyconclude occupation based prevalence rate of (22%) in rural Punjab. This is a high prevalencewhich need the immediate attention of the policy makers. It is recommended to manage anoccupation based hepatitis awareness and screening campaign for the affected and generalcommunity.