Abstract:
Objective: This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C in patients presenting with vague rheumatic symptoms in a local community in district Punjab, Pakistan. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehsil Headquarter Hospital Sharaqpur Sharif, Sheikhupura, Pakistan. During a period of two and a half months, 751 patients presenting to general outdoor department with vague symptoms were selected through random sampling. People who presented with symptoms related to rheumatic dieases including, arthralgia, myalgia and lassitude without being explained on any other organic diseases, were labelled as vague symptoms. They were tested for Anti Hepatitis C Virus Antibodies, Hepatitis B Surface Antigen, and Anti Human Immunodeifciency Virus Antibodies with Rapid Immunochromatographic Test Kits. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23. Results: Of the 751 randomly selected patients, 28 were eliminated from results due to missing data and another 156 were removed on the basis of exclusion criteria. Out of 564 included participants, 37.8% were male and 62.2% were female with a mean age of 53.11±11.2 years. Twenty-seven percent of people screened with vague symptoms were found to be positive for Hepatitis C (N=152), 2.3% were Hepatitis B (N=13), whereas only one was HIV positive. Conclusion: This study suggests that Chronic Hepatitis C often present with vague rheumatic symptoms like arthralgia, myalgia and lassitude. Patients presenting with such symptoms and without underlying rheumatic diseases should be screened for hepatitis C virus infection.
Page(s):
116-119
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Journal of Medical Science, Volume: 29, Issue: 3, Year: 2021