Seroepidemiology of HBV and HCV at Tertiary Care Center Lahore, Pakistan: An Analytical Cross Sectional Study

Background: Pakistan is one of the highest burden countries for HCV. Hepatitis has unique transmission risk factors which vary based on geography and other factors. Objective: To assess risk factors for HCV and HBV transmission in an urban city population of district Lahore, at Hepatitis Prevention and Treatment Clinic (HPTC) primarily serving as a hepatitis clinic, serving a large catchment area. Methods: A clinical based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 at HPTC Lahore, Pakistan. Total of 1081 out of 22231 eligible patients blood samples were screened out for hepatitis B (HBsAg) and C (Anti-HCV) irrespective of age and gender through ELISA. Results: HBV and HCV was 8.0% and 52.35% in the study population respectively. Males were more affected with HBV (64.0%) than females (36.0%). While HCV seroprevalence was significantly higher in females (59.6%) than males (40.4%). The coinfection recorded here was 2.40%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis of predicting variables showed that factors including, IV injections, barber shaving, blood donation and history of having more than ten injections were found associated as potential risk factors (OR>1: P-value<0.05) with the occurrence of HBV. Whereas, factors including, dental procedure, blood donation and visit to beauty parlor were significantly associated as risk factors (OR>1: P-value<0.05) with HCV occurrence. Conclusion: Considering all the patients a single cohort irrespective of age and gender data analysis showed that exposure to dental procedures is significantly associated with the occurrence of HCV.