Frequency of hepatitis c virus in patients with decompensated cirrhosis of liver in Faisalabad

ABSTRACT

To assess the frequency of Hepatitis C viruses in patients with decompensated cirrhosis of liver at a tertiary care hospital. It is a descriptive study conducted at Medical unit-Ill Allied Hospital Faisalabad from January 2005 to June 2005. 112 patients were enrolled after taking verbal consent. After complete physical examination and investigations a sample size of 100 patients was calculated using 5% level of significance and margin of error as 5%. In a total of 100 patients 66 were Hepatitis C virus positive, 20 patients were found to be Hepatitis B virus positive. 9 patients were both Hepatitis B and C virus positive, 5 patients were found negative on virus screening with Elisa method. Hepatitis C virus is the most common cause of decompensated liver disease. It is the need of the hour to create more awareness and to launch educational campaigns regarding the modes of spread and prevention against Hepatitis C virus and to increase the compliance of Hepatitis B virus vaccination