Prevalence of HCV genotypes in district Mardan

Abstract

BackgroundApproximately 170 million people are infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide. The prevalence of chronic HCV infections in Pakistan is about 5%, with most individuals being infected with HCV genotype 3a. Data on HCV genotypes distribution across various districts of the country are scarce. One example is district Mardan from where such data is available only from 17 individuals. Accordingly, the present study aimed at determining HCV genotypes distribution among 177 HCV RNA positive individuals from district Mardan.FindingsSerum samples (n = 215) from patients suspected of hepatitis C were collected and processed for Nested PCR based detection and subsequent genotyping. Gender-wise and age-wise differences in HCV prevalence and HCV genotypes distribution were determined by χ2 test. Out of the total 215 serum samples, 177 were found to be positive for HCV RNA. The genotype 3a was the most predominant genotype among HCV RNA positive samples with a prevalence of 90.3%, followed by genotype 1a (5.6%), mixed genotypes (2.8%), genotype 3b (0.6%) and genotype 4 (0.6%). The HCV prevalence was higher in young individuals than old people and was indicative of reduced survival rate beyond 40 years.ConclusionHCV genotype 3a is the most predominant genotype in district Mardan. The state of the art preventive and therapeutic strategies should be implemented to control the spread of HCV infections. Further temporal studies involving different geographical areas of Pakistan, are required to improve the control measures for HCV infection.

Distribution of HCV Genotypes and RNA Viral Load Along with Hemato-Biochemical Analysis of HCV Patients in Rahim Yar Khan, Okara and Toba Tek Singh Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

“…This study ascertained that HCV genotypes were spread with equal probability between the both sexes and there was no association between gender and HCV genotypes. These results are in agreement with multiple previous studies indicating little statistical association between genders and genotypes in Pakistan (8,(10)(11)(12). This study contradicts a Libyan study that showed the association of various HCV genotypes with gender (13).…”

“…This study also reported many rare genotypes like 5a, 1c, and 6a, which are uncommon and less reported. Unlike Ali et al (8) sudy findings, the findings of this study support the verdict of some previous studies that showed the presence of genotypes such as 5a, 4a, and 1c in spite of their rare status (9)(10)(11)16). These findings are in contradiction with those of some studies that have shown the partial absence of genotypes 4, 5, and 6 (8,17).…”

An overview on hepatitis C virus genotypes and its control

“…The frequency of HCV is highest in few countries and areas, such as in Europe 25 million cases are HCV positive [17]. In Pakistan, HCV is 5% prevalent [18], whereas 5-9% prevalence is detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan [19] causing liver cancer [20]. HCV-4 is prevalent among Middle East and Africa causing more than 80% of HCV infections and has recently spread to several European countries.…”

A Review of Hepatitis C in the General Population in Pakistan

“…On the other hand, genotype 3a and 1b are more prevalent in Iran, Pakistan and India (20). Patients with HCV genotype 3a are found to be at an accelerated risk of steatosis and hepatic fibrosis whereas, severe liver disease has been reported in patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b (21).…”