Qazi Masroor Ali, Ahtisham Ali Khan, Ali Imran, Hashim Raza, Saba Anjum, Ghulam Muhy-ud-din Chaudhary.
Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and C Virus in Diabetic Patients and its Association with Increased Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) at Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur.
Infect Dis J Jan ;22(3):588-91.

Background: Diabetes mellitus type II (DM-2) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection often co-exist while DM also causes increase in levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT).We aim to determine the frequency of HCV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections in DM-2 patients and its association with ALT. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the diabetic clinic of Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur during Dec. 2006-June 2007. A total of 439 consecutive diabetic patients of either gender were evaluated for HCV and HBV infection by using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA-3) along with serum ALT levels. Frequencies of HBV and HCV infection were noted. Patients with high ALT with underlying HCV/HBV infection were compared with patients with normal ALT by using chi square test. Results: Among 439 DM2 patients, 221(50%) were males. Age ranged from 18-95 years. Most of them were married (n=432, 98%), belonged to rural areas (n=309, 70 %), had DM2 (99.8%), and majority were and non-smokers (79 %). Seroprevalence for HCV, HBV and both were 25%, 3% and 2% respectively. Sixty percent (n=264) had a normal ALT. Patients with raised ALT were more commonly had an underlying HCV infection compared to those with a normal ALT. Conclusion: HBV and HCV infections are frequent in patients with DM. Patients with raised ALT level were more likely to have an underlying HCV infection than those with a normal ALT.

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