title: Incidence of Active HCV infection amongst Blood Donors of Mardan District, Pakistan.
abstract: Hepatitis C is an ailment of liver caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. About 3% of the world population is infected by this virus. HCV infection is a leading reason for liver cirrhosis and therefore a major source of hepatocellular carcinoma. The study focused on the incidence of active HCV infection in blood donors of Mardan district of KPK, Pakistan. A total of 5318 blood donors were inspected for the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA using ICT (immune-chromatographic test), ELISA and RT-PCR at Mardan Medical Complex (MMC), Mardan. Out of these, 157 (2.95%) were positive by ICT, 60 (1.12%) by ELISA and 56 (1.05%) for HCV-RNA. The frequency of active HCV infectivity amongst the blood donors from district Mardan, KPK Pakistan was 1.05 %. Application of strict measures during blood donor selection and use of proper screening assays such as ELISA in place of ICT devices can give a more accurate picture so that the incidence of this viral infection in HCV negative blood recipients can be reduced.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, KPK-Pakistan E-mail : saidhassan15@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Fawad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karim
authors.forename: Abu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasar
authors.forename: Ibrar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: Iftikhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: Said
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Rahmat
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gul
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ullah
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rizwan
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral