Frequency of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and Hepatitis C antibody (HCVAb) seropositivity among preoperative eye surgery patients

摘要

The aim of this study was to analyse the prevalence of Hepatitis B & C Virus among the preoperative eye surgery patients at the Liaquat University Eye Hospital, Hyderabad, from June 2014 to February 2016.2200 patients of various ages undergoing eye surgeries and being unaware of hepatitis B & C infection were included. The blood was collected by qualified technicians of our hospital laboratory under supervision of a consultant pathologist. Each patient was serologically screened by immuno-chromatography (ICT method) for qualitative detection of antigen for Hepatitis B and antibodies for Hepatitis C before surgery. 1255 (57.04%) patients were male and 945 (42.95%) were female. Large numbers of patients were in their 4^th and 5^th decade of life in both the sexes. Of these 2200 patients, 338 (15.36%) were serologically positive for Hepatitis B virus & Hepatitis C virus. The majority of them were female.The prevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C virus positive is higher in our population. Therefore, it is mandatory to screen every patient for Hepatitis B and C before any surgical procedure. The surgeon and health care professional should protect themselves by using protective masks, eye protection glasses, and double gloves before handling infected cases. Hence the used infected material, needles and other waste material should be destroyed properly using Biosafety protocols.