ABSTRACT
Background: The molecular epidemiology of HCV and its association with liver diseases in North India is not well understood. Aim: To assess the incidence of HCV infection in blood donors and liver disease patients and the influence of HCV genotype on the severity of the liver disease. Methods: We screened 487 patients with acute viral hepatitis (AVH), 141 patients of fulminant hepatic failure(FHF), 1058 patients of chronic liver disease (CLD) (chronic hepatitis-468, cirrhosis-527, HCC-63), and 3504 voluntary blood donors for anti-HCV. Anti HCV positive patients were further subjected to HCV RNA testing followed by genotyping. Results: HCV infection was observed in 1.6%, 12.94%, 10.64%, 27.13%, 21.25% and 49.2% of blood donors, AVH,FHF, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and HCC patients respectively. Conclusion: Genotype 3 was found to be the major genotype. HCV genotype one infection was associated with advanced liver disease.