FREQUENCY OF HEPATITIS C IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS

Background: Diabetic patients are at an increased risk of acquiring Hepatitis C virus infection owing to the nature of the disease and its inherent complications or frequent parenteral exposure. On the other hand HCV infection may itself contribute to the development of Diabetes Mellitus.Objective of this study was to know the frequency of HCV infection among adult diabetic patients admitted to the Hospital. Material Methods: This descriptive study was conducted at DHQ Teaching Hospital D.I.Khan from January 2013 to December 2013. It comprised of 84 diabetic patients admitted in the medical wards. The presence of HCV infection was detected by ELISA and confirmed by PCR. The data were recorded on a performa and analysed by descriptive statistics.. Results: Out of 84 diabetic patients, 24 (28.5%) were men and 60 (71.5%)women, with a male to female ratio of 1: 2.5. The age range was from 18 to77 years with a mean of 54.19±13.15 years. The mean duration of diabetes was 9.99±6.77 (Range 1-30) years. Among the 84 diabetics 23(27.38%) patients were positive for HCV infection. In HCV positive cases, 8(34.78%) were males and 15(65.22%) females. Regarding age, 10 (43.48%) patients had age up to 50 years and 13(56.52%) had 50 years age. (p 0.05) In respect to duration of diabetes, 9 (39.13%) patients had up to 10 years and 14(60.86%) had 10 years duration (p 0.05). Conclusion: There is association between Hepatitis C infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus. HCV infection was observed in almost one third patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in our study