PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS-C ANTIBODIES AMONGST NURSING STAFF WORKING IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Abstract

Objective; To determine the prevalence of HCV infection amongst nursing staff working in a tertiary care hospital. Study Design; Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Setting; Nursing staff of Nishtar Hospital Multan. Subjects and methods; One hundred fifty two senior nursing staff working  in all wards of Nishtar Hospital Multan.. Diagnosis of HCV infection was made by detection of antibodies to HCV in serum (ACON Hepatitis C Virus Rapid Test Strip, Serum). Those nurses whose test was positive by the above technique, underwent second generation Elisa testing for Hepatitis C to confirm the diagnosis (Cobas Core Anti-HCV EIA).

Results; Study was conducted upon 152 nursing staffs working in different wards of Nishtar Hospital Multan, which is a tertiary care hospital. These 152 staff nurses were checked for anti-HCV and only 3 cases were positive (1.97%) and 149 negative (98.03%).

Conclusion;

Study shows that the prevalence of HCV infection among nursing staff is 1.97%, which is low as compared to other studies but higher in comparison to the general population of Multan (0.27%). It is recommended that emphasis should be placed on prevention & a health care worker safety unit should be started in both private and public health care systems to increase the awareness. The health care workers should strictly follow appropriate preventive measures.

Key Words: Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Blood Transfusion, Health care workers