Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assessment of Hepatitis C Infection in a Tertiary Care Centre

Introduction: RNA viruses are very vulnerable for mutations and therefore pose maximum difficulty in diagnosis and treatment. Hepatitis C virus is among one of them. In addition to pose higher mutation rate, its geographic distribution in different countries and even in different states in India is quite remarkable. This study is being undertaken to study its prevalence by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method, which is a gold standard for diagnostic assessment for such type of viral infections. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the blood bank on 820 units of blood at Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Centre (TMMCRC) and associated hospital with prior consent of medical superintendent of the hospital. Along with other screening test RT-PCR was applied as gold standard. All conditions for this type of diagnostic tests were maintained and results were obtained and appropriate statistical test applied. Results: Of the 820 units, 0.51% showed the seropositivity. On statistical analysis, there was statistically significant (P < 0.05%) seropositivity and higher response rate (P < 0.005) was observed. The seropositivity was found to be maximum in old age (55-65 years males), while it was found to be least in young 18-25 years males. Conclusion: As we go through the literature available on the topic we found that there is a major difference in the seropositivity in different continents of the world and even the different states in India. Hence, we conducted the study using RT-PCR method and found the prevalence rate of 0.51% in our hospital, which addresses to us for being more vigilant at the time of receiving blood.