Frequency of Hepatitis B and C in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease- Experience at Tertiary care Hospital

Objectives: To determine the frequency of hepatitis B and C in patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration: Department of Internal Medicine, King Salman Armed Forces Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: Total 47 patients of either gender with age more than 15 years who were diagnosed cases of SCD were recruited. The diagnosis of SCD was established by cellulose acetate electrophoresis with citrate agar electrophoresis. The diagnosis of hepatitis B and C was established by measuring hepatitis b surface antigen (HBsAg) and Anti-HCV antibodies through 3rd generation Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Patients were excluded who could have hepatitis due to other reasons. Results: Six (n=6) patients were excluded who could have hepatitis due to other reasons. Data of remaining 41 patients was analyzed with mean age of 24.27 years ± 4.29 SD. There were 28 males and 13 females with male to female ratio 2.15. Frequency of hepatitis B was found to be 7.32 % (n = 3), while frequency of hepatitis C was found to be 12.2 % (n=5) in our study. Conclusion: A significant percentage of SCD patients were having hepatitis B and C. Blood transfusion protocol and their safety should be improved. Early detection of hepatitis B/C in transfused SCD patients is also essential. Further large-scale studies are needed taking number of blood transfusions as a variable in the study.