INCREASING BURDEN OF HEPATITIS C IN POPULATION OF DISTRICT PESHAWAR, KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PROVINCE OF PAKISTAN

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of persistent liver disease and progresses toward liver cirrhosis, hence a major causeof Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC).About 3% of the population is infected by this virus all overthe world.This study was conducted to determine anti-HCV prevalence (based on Immune Chromatography Technique) in suspected patients admitted at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) Peshawar Khyber PakhtunKhwa Pakistan. Data of total 1772 subjects from March 2018 to February 2019 admitted at pathology lab Khyber teaching Hospital (KTH) Peshawar were collected. All samples have been examined for anti-HCV antibodies using ICT. Evaluation of all 1862 suspected patients indicated that 56 individuals (3.16%) had anti-HCV antibodies of their sera. According to our observations, the prevalence of HCV infection is even lower (3.16%) than the common HCV prevalence recorded inside the case of all previous studies in our subject areas. The lowering movement of HCV infection suggests the development in fitness care facilities and recognition among the not unusual population over the last few years. Keywords: Hepatitis, Infection, Peshawar, ICT