PREVALENCE OF ANTI-HCV ANTIBODIES IN CENTRAL INDIA

The study group screened far anti-HCV comprised 789 subjects of hepati tis, renal failure, thalassaemia and healthy voluntary blood donors co ming from Central India during July 1992 to November 1995. The prevale nce of HCV was low (4.85%) among 103 patients of acute viral hepatitis (AVH) while it was higher (25.64%) among 117 patients of chronic live r disease (CLD) with the highest rate of 31.57 per cent in 57 patients of cirrhosis. The anti-HCV positivity among 101 patients with hepatic failure was around 10 per cent. High risk groups such as chronic rena l failure (CRF) patients mainly on haemodialysis and thalassaemics rec eiving multiple blood transfusions showed the prevalence of anti-HCV i n 41.9 and 25.45 per cent respectively, Only 1.78 per cent of the 280 voluntary blood donors showed positivity for anti-HCV, Comparison of t he data on HCV in the present study with data from other parts of Indi a showed a wide variation in the different centers. The higher prevale nce of HCV among CRF patients and thalassaemics indicates the need for screening of the blood units for anti-HCV before transfusion to these high risk patients.