Frequency of Hepatitis C virus genotypes circulating in Gujrat Punjab, Pakistan
Frequency of Hepatitis C virus genotypes circulating in Gujrat Punjab, Pakistan
MUHAMMAD NAEEM RAZA1, KALSOOM SUGHRA1* & NADIA ZEESHAN1
ABSTRACT
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is primary cause of liver disease that leads toward liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. This study designed to diagnose the prevalence of HCV genotypes circulating in Gujrat, Punjab. Blood samples of 3540 suspected patient were collected from July 2017 to January 2019 and analyzed for HCV infection by using qualitative PCR, confirmed cases were subjected to molecular genotyping on Real Time PCR (Applied Biosystems, Step One software). Results show 2750 out of 3540 (77.6%) suspected patients were positive for HCV-RNA. Female have higher percentage (57.78%) than male (42.22%) with highest viral load observed at age group 15 to 30 years. The genotype 3a (83.33%) was dominant to other circulating genotypes as 2b (13.33%) and mixed 3a/2b (3.33%). The highest prevalence of HCV infection was noted in females compared to males and 3a was most dominant genotype. This study highlights the new reported mixed genotypes 3a/2b in this region that should be remarkable for treatment of high resistant cases of HCV. Further studies are needed to find out the exact cause of high viral load in this region.
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