ABSTRACT: | Full Text PDF
Blood-borne viral hepatitis such as hepatitis B and C have been on a tremendous rise specifically in the Asian, Mediterranean and Sub-Sahara African region. The trend has not been any different in Pakistan in terms of disease prevalence, to say the least. But how does the seroprevalence of these diseases in healthy blood donors of Pakistan compare to the rest of the countries of the affected region? To answer this query, we carried out a cross-sectional prevalence study on 2000 healthy blood donors at Jinnah Post-graduate & Medical Center over a period of three months. The major chunk was male, replacement donors from urban setting having blood groups of B+ (31%), O+ (29%), and A+ (24%). Among these donors, 3.9% of were found to be positive for HBsAg and 5.9% for HCV antibodies; while none tested positive for HIV ELISA. The results of the present study clearly proclaims that despite Herculean efforts to prevent spread of these chronic, debilitating illnesses, Pakistan still seems to have a significantly higher seroprevalence of both hepatitis B and C. Inability to effectively cut down on the transmission of these hematogenous liver diseases is most likely attributed to persistence of certain false healthcare and social practices indigenous to our society.