Hepatitis C Virus: Genotypic Distribution Amongst Surgical Patients Attending Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis C virus is the leading cause for liver damage and liver transplantation. In India, the prevalence rate of HCV infection is low (0.5-1.5%), because of the large population. Our study aimed to determine the presence of HCV RNA in uninformed surgical patients and to find out the dominant HCV genotypes in rural and urban populations among those surgical patients attending the tertiary care hospital.

Aim and Objective: To study the Hepatitis C virus its genotypic distribution amongst surgical patients attending tertiary care hospital.

Methods: This study was a Prospective and population-based study carried out in the Department of Microbiology. The period of execution was January 2022  to December 2023. The informed consent was taken from each participant. Socio-demographic characteristics, family history, overall health, co-infections linked to the illness, and possible risk factors for HCV transmission were assessed using a predesigned questionnaire. All the patients have undergone mandatory screening tests for anti-HCV antibodies and Testing for HCV RNA and genotyping was done on individuals who were tested positive.

Results: In the present study approximately 10,857 subjects were screened, only 100 surgical patients were studied for hepatitis C infection found positive for anti-HCV antibodies. Patients between the ages of 51-60 had the highest proportion of anti-HCV antibodies, followed by those between the ages of 21-30, 31-40, and 41-50. Male cases were (52%) slightly more than females (48%). Only 57 patients were confirmed for the presence of HCV RNA by RT-PCR and were subjected to HCV genotyping. Genotype 3 was found in 54 patients and Genotype 1a was found only in 3 patients. 41 (72%) patients belonged to the rural population and 16 (28%) patients belonged to the urban population.

Conclusion: HCV genotype 3 and genotype 1a remain the common genotypes in the region of Uttar Pradesh, India. Genotype 3 is the most widespread genotype in both rural and urban populations.