seroepidemiological study of acute viral hepatitis in Northern Pakistan

ABSTRACT

The seroepidemiological study carried out to find out the pattern of acute viral hepatitis [AVH] revealed that NANB hepatitis was the commonest type of AVH in adults [77.16%] while hepatitis A was the most frequent variety [59.3%] in children in our country. Several epidemics of enterically transmitted [ET] NANB hepatitis were also documented in various cities. The screening of the apparently healthy, adult population revealed that 97.100% of adult population was immune to hepatitis A and a carrier rate of HBsAg was present in 8.10% of general population. However, the analysis of seromarkers in HBsAg positive patients/healthy volunteers showed a low frequency of delta antibody [3.1%]. Poor hygienic conditions, bad sanitation, consumption of polIuted and unclean water and use of non-disposable glass syringes are considered to be the important causes of high endemicity of various types of acute viral hepatitis in our country