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Background & Aim: Hepatitis B and C infections are global issues that are associated with a massive financial burden in developing countries where vertical transmission is the major mode and remains high. This cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the seroepidemiology and associated risk factors of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among 375 pregnant women attending antenatal care health facilities at Bacha Khan Medical Complex (BKMC) Shahmansoor and District Head Quarter (DHQ) Hospital Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan., Methodology: From a total of 375 pregnant women selected using systematic random sampling from both hospitals, 10 ml of blood samples were collected and alienated serum was examined for indicators identification through the Immuno-Chromatographic Test (ICT) and 3rd Generation Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). A pre-structured questionnaire was used to collect the socio-demographic data and possible risk factors. The data was analyzed via SPSS 23.0 statistical software. A chi-square analysis was performed to determine the association between variables. P-value < 0.05 was set statistically significant., Results: The overall frequency of HBV and HCV among 375 pregnant women involved in the study was 3.7% and 2.1% respectively. None of the pregnant women were co-infected with HBV and HCV. Dental extraction (P = 0.001) and blood transfusion (P = 0.0005) were significantly allied with HBV infection while surgical procedure (P = 0.0001) was significantly associated with HCV infection. Moreover the sociodemographic characteristics: residential status (P = 0.017) and educational level (P = 0.048) were found significant risk factors of HBsAg and maternal age (P = 0.033) of anti-HCV, respectively., Conclusion & Recommendation: HBV and HCV infections are intermediary endemic in the study area. A higher prevalence of HBV was detected among pregnant mothers with a history of dental extraction, history of blood transfusion, resident to the urban area and low educational level. The age and surgical procedures were the potential risk factors found significantly associated with HCV positivity among pregnant mothers in our setup. Future negotiations to control vertical transmission should include routine antenatal screening for these infections early in pregnancy and the requirement of efficient preventive tools including the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine in combination with hepatitis B immune globulins to the neonate., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: The hepatitis C pandemic has been systematically studied and characterized in North America and Europe, but this important public health problem has not received equivalent attention in other regions., Aim: The objective of this systematic review was to characterize hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemiology in selected countries of Asia, Australia and Egypt, i.e. in a geographical area inhabited by over 40% of the global population., Methodology: Data references were identified through indexed journals and non-indexed sources. In this work, 7770 articles were reviewed and 690 were selected based on their relevance., Results: We estimated that 49.3-64.0 million adults in Asia, Australia and Egypt are anti-HCV positive. China alone has more HCV infections than all of Europe or the Americas. While most countries had prevalence rates from 1 to 2% we documented several with relatively high prevalence rates, including Egypt (15%), Pakistan (4.7%) and Taiwan (4.4%). Nosocomial infection, blood transfusion (before screening) and injection drug use were identified as common risk factors in the region. Genotype 1 was common in Australia, China, Taiwan and other countries in North Asia, while genotype 6 was found in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. In India and Pakistan genotype 3 was predominant, while genotype 4 was found in Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria., Conclusion: We recommend implementation of surveillance systems to guide effective public health policy that may lead to the eventual curtailment of the spread of this pandemic infection., (© 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)

Objective: To identify the fears and concerns regarding HCV amongst people presenting to a free screening camp and to identify the barriers preventing patients from linkage to care (seeking medical care for HCV). Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Setting: Gajrakh District, Gujranwala. Period: 15th February to 14th March 2019. Material & Methods: Questionnaire was filled by all the participants attending free screening and treatment camp. Questionnaire explored sociodemographic features, financial status, knowledge regarding awareness of disease e.g. risk factors for transmission of disease, possible complications of disease, fears regarding diagnosis & treatment of HCV and possible concerns of female population. Results: This study included 100 participants, 58% were females and 42% were males with a mean age of 46.23±12.36. Fifty seven percent of the participants were laborer, 15 were salary based, 6 were shopkeepers and 7 were housewives. Majority of participants have a sound knowledge about transmission of HCV i.e 95% said yes to the question about spread via ear/nose piercing by unsterilized needles, however, 49% and 61% think that hugging the patient and eating and drinking with patient also caused viral spread respectively. Most important factors contributing to inability to start treatment were inability to bear cost, missing of daily wages, lack of transport, fear of side effects and fear of being outcast in 75, 66, 41, 26 and 25% respectively. Conclusion: Socioeconomic factors like costly treatment, missing of daily wages, lack of transport, fear of side effects and being outcast are real hindrance in getting HCV treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carvedilol is a ß-blocker (non-selective). It causes vasoconstriction in the splanchnic vessels and causes reduction of portal inflow. Hence this change causes less destruction of platelets in the patients having splenomegaly with portal hypertension and cirrhosis. Objectives: The objective of the study is to find out the effect of carvedilol on thrombocytopenia in cirrhotic patients of hepatitis C. Study Design: Descriptive study. Settings: Department of Gastroenterology, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore. Period: Six months from 17th October 2015 to 16th April 2016. Material & Method: Data was collected using designed proformas. All patients with hepatitis C having cirrhosis of liver, splenomegaly and a platelet count of less than 100,000/mm3 were included after taking informed consent. Dose of carvedilol was managed so that 25% reduction in heart rate was achieved. Platelet count was repeated after two weeks. Blood pressure, pulse and platelet count before and after 25% reduction in heart rate with carvedilol was compared. Changes in platelet count, blood pressure, pulse and dose of carvedilol were also calculated. <0.05 p value was taken as significant. Results: A total of 66% patients responded to carvedilol therapy and showedmean rise in platelet count of 16 ± 10.3. (P-Value <0.05). Changes in platelet count with change in blood pressure, pulse and with dose of carvedilol were found to be significant. (P<0.05). Conclusion: Carvedilol causes improvement in thrombocytopenia in cirrhotic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]