Hepatitis in dental practice - A study conducted on 1498 patients

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the carrier status of hepatitis Band C in those patients who were admitted in the surgical unit of Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar for the treatment of miscellaneous oral and maxillofacial pathologies, including fractures, cystic lesions, tumors, neurec-tomies, impactions and biopsies. All the patients were operated under general anesthesia and were screened for hepatitis B and C virus. This is the retrospective study conducted from September 2002 to December 2004. There were 1498 patients. Out of these, 44 were diagnosed as positive for the viral pathology. Some infected patients presented with a known history of jaundice, blood transfusions, major and minor dental surgeries in the past. The percentage of patients positive for HBsAg and HCVAb was 1.66 and 1.26 respectively.