Evaluation of Hepatitis B & Hepatitis C Virus co-infection among the hemodialysis patients in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection substantially cause series of liver diseases worldwide. Because these two viruses share the modes of transmission, HBV HCV co-infection is common with approximately 7-20 million people affected globally. Hemodialysis individuals are at risk of HBV and HCV infections. The prevalence rates of coinfection with HBV and HCV in Hemodialysis patients have been variable worldwide depending on the geographic regions, and the type of exposure. This study aimed to exam-ine HBV and HCV coinfection and determine the shared and significant fac-tors in the coinfection in Hemodialysis patients. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 237 Hemodialysis patients including 153 males and 84 females in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, to survey coinfection with HBV and HCV using ELISA. The retrospective demographic data of the sub-jects was collected and the patient’s serums were analyzed by ELISA. The collected data was analyzed with Instat (Graphpad) software. Fisher's exact test with 5% error intervals was used to measure the correlation of variables and infection rates. The results of the study indicated that the prevalence of hepatitis B & C virus in hemodialysis patients was 9.70% (n=23), out of which 1 (0.42%) was suffering with HBV & HCV co-infection while 6 were only HBV positive and 16 were only HCV positive. There is very low prevalence of Hep-atitis C Virus and Hepatitis B Virus coinfection in hemodialysis patients in this region.