Sero-prevalence of Hepatitis B and C virus among patients attending Dental clinics in Kashmir Valley

Introduction: Hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) infections are considered an occupational risk for dental professionals and other health care workers. It is a risk that includes the possibility of dental personnel getting HBV or HCV infection from an infected patient and the potential transmission of HBV to susceptible patients from infected dental personnel. There is dearth of consensus prevalence data on HBV & HCV infections among patients attending dental clinics in Kashmir Valley, and no prevalence study is available. The aim of this study to detect the presence of HBsAg and HCV antigen, and the relation of it‘s presence with other factors such as gender, age, social status, history of surgical operation and blood transfusion among patients attending dental clinics in Kashmir Valley. Materials and methods: Serum from 2000 patients who attended Government Dental College and Hospital, Srinagar was screened for detection HBV surface Ag and HCV Ag using the Rapid Card Diagnostic Test (SD Bioline rapid immunochromatographic test for antibody IgG). All rapid test positive samples were further tested at SMHS Hospital, Kaksarai, Srinagar by a third-generation Enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). Data was analyzed by SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Science) software program version 16 and the prevalence and percentage of all variables were calculated. Chi-square test was applied to see difference by gender. Results: The overall sero-prevalence of HBV and HCV among dental patients was 4.4% and 4.3 % respectively. There was no statistical significant difference in prevalence of HCV and HBV in male and females. A high sero-positivity was prevalent in the age group of 51-60 years (12% for HBV and HCV respectively). Most of positive results were observed from District Anantnag especially villages of Kokernag (77.3 % of total no. of serologically HBV positive cases and 82.6% of total no. of serologically HCV positive cases). There was a significantly high prevalence of dental procedures among cases as compared to controls (p < 0.001) for both HBV and HCV results. Conclusion: The sero frequency of hepatitis B and C is high among Kashmiri patients especially from rural population of South Kashmir attending Government Dental College and Hospital, Srinagar, dental malpractice being major source of cross infection.