Incidance of Hepatitis B and C in Lady Health Vistor Students at Public Health Nursing School

Abstract

Objective: To investigate prevalence of hepatitis B and C in lady health visitor students at Public health Nursing School Sahiwal.Material and methods: This study was done at Public Health Nursing School, Sahiwal, and Multan in May 2017. There are two classes of Lady Health Visitor (LHV) in the school, 50 students in each class. Total number of students is 100. Authorization for the study protocol was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Public Health Nursing School, Sahiwal, and informed consent was taken from the patients.  The students are admitted on FSc basis, from Sahiwal, Khanewal and Toba Tek Singh Districts, according to the seats allocated by Govt. to these districts on merit. All the students were included in study. Age of the students ranges between 18 to 24 years. They belonged to both urban and rural areas. Screening of students was done for HCV and HBV. They were educated regarding the mode of spread of HCV and HBV. They were advised to take preventive measures for their safety as well as the safety of patients while attending patients. Those who were not vaccinated for HBV were vaccinated. That whose test was Positive, there PCR was done and treatment started from the DHQ Teaching Hospital Sahiwal. Statistical analysis was performed of the data received through questionnaire form about age and other demographic information, and screening test which was done to identify the positive HCV and HBV cases. Computer software SPSS version 23 was used to statistically analyze the data.

Results: All the students of the institution were included in the study. Among 100 students 11 were positive for HCV (11%) and 1 was positive for HBV (1%). Among these 12 cases only 1 was living in urban area and 11 were living in rural areas.Conclusion: Incidence of Hepatitis C is higher in Pakistan and is increasing due to lack of preventive measures. Hepatitis B and C have multiple transmission modes, there is special need to educate people in General and Health Care Professionals in particular to screen each and every patient and take necessary precautions to stop virus transmission. Special attention should be given to educate people in rural areas, including health care professionals, paramedic, quacks, beauticians and barbers.

Keywords: Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Health care workers, Lady Health visitors.