• Bushra B Patoli, Atif A Patoli, Nimerta Kumari Balani, and Ashfaque A Korejo.
• Institute of Microbiology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro. Pakistan.
• Afr Health Sci. 2018 Sep 1; 18 (3): 531-538.

BackgroundPakistan is endemic to hepatitis B and C infections. Alarming rise in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been noticed in some areas of Sindh with an increasing risk for co-infection frequency in this region.ObjectiveTo estimate the burden of HBV/HCV infection in Hyderabad Pakistan.MethodsELISA and Nucleic acid Amplification test were performed to detect viruses. SPSS and online calculator were used for statistical analysis.ResultsFrom a total of 108 seropositive hepatitis patients, 36.1% (n=39) were found HCV RNA-positive. Non-significant differences were observed in the frequencies of HCV infection for both genders [OR=0.735, CI (95%) 0.307-1.761, p<0.05]. The percentage of HBV DNA detection among 108 HCV-seropositive cases was 17.9% (n=19). However, HCV-HBV co-infection in HCV-RNA positive cases was determined in 48.7% (n=19) cases with non-significant difference in both genders [OR=1.51, CI (95%) = 0.38 - 5.96, p< 0.05]. Analysis suggested weakly positive correlation between HCV mono-infection and HCV-HBV co-infection and age (r =0.184, and r =0.1231), respectively.ConclusionThe study demonstrates a high prevalence of HBV co-infection among active hepatitis C patients of Hyderabad.

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