STUDY OF HEPATITIS B IN VACCINATED THALASSEMIC CHILDREN AT TERRITORY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective: To study of hepatitis B in vaccinated thalassemic children at territory care hospital. Material and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Department pediatric medicine, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur from July 2019 to December 2019 over the period of 6 months. Total 240 patients were selected by non-probability sampling technique. Hepatitis B was assessed in selected patients. Results: The mean age of cases was 7.25 ± 3.43 years with minimum and maximum age of 3 and 15 years. There were 130(54.17%) male and 110(45.83%) female cases. The mean number of blood transfusions was 4.60 ± 1.16 with minimum and maximum transfusion as 3 and 7. According to operational definition only 8(3.3%) children were diagnosed of HBV. When data was stratified for age, gender and number transfusion, significant association was found between HBV and higher no of transfusion. Conclusion: Hence it can be concluded that the frequency of HBV is very low in in vaccinated thalassemic children receiving multiple blood transfusions. Hence vaccination for HBV must be ensured in thalassemic children receiving multiple blood transfusions. By adopting such strategies further risk of related complications can be minimized and prognosis can be improved. Keywords: HBV vaccination, blood born disease, thalassemia, blood transfusions, complication