STUDY OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS INFECTION AND ITS GENOTYPES IN TRIBAL PEOPLE

Objective: This study was undertaken to screen the epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in ethnically distinct, tribal dominated and of lowersocioeconomic status area.Methods: Briefly, 3 ml blood was collected from 50 random liver disease cases with jaundice, receiving care at Central Hospital, N.F. Railway, Guwahati,and Guwahati Medical College, with informed consent. The patients detected with hepatitis A virus (HAV)-immunoglobulin M positive status wereincluded and were stratified as acute viral hepatitis and fulminant hepatitis failure based on the clinical profile. HAV genotyping was studied bypolymerase chain reaction-direct sequencing-phylogenetic analysis approach. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 13.0 software.Result: A total of 50 cases were HBV infected. HBV infection was predominant in the young and adult age group. HBV-RNA was detected in 19 cases.Conclusion: This study shows that HBV genotype D is most commonly found hepatitis in all tribes of Assam and poor sanitation and alcoholconsumption are a common reason for its widespread.Keywords: Genotype, Hepatitis B virus, Liver disease, Molecular epidemiology, Phylogenetic study