IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 18, Issue 7 Ser. 1 (July. 2019), PP 23-26 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0853-1807012326 www.iosrjournals.org 23 | Page Prevalence of Hepatits C in patients visiting Dental OPD at a Tertiary Care Centre: A Hospital Based study Dr. Devika Singh 1 , Dr. Nimmi Singh 2 , Dr. A.K Sharma 3 1. Senior Resident, Department of Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna 2. Associate Professor,Department of Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna 3. Professor and Head, Department of Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna Corresponding Author: Dr. Devika Singh Senior Resident Department of Dentistry IGIMS, Patna Abstract Aim-To know the prevalence of Hepatitis C among patients visiting Dental OPD at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna. Material and Method-A retrospective study was conducted in Dental OPD at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna. Data was collected from all the patients undergoing surgical treatment and from patients who had peviously been tested for hepatitis elsewhere Result -Mean age was 39.64 + 16.106 years 30% of the subject group were female while 70% were male. On basis of gender, 0 out of 15 females were positive while 2 out of 35 male patients were positive for hepatitis C positive. In our study, the prevalenceof hepatitis C was 4% which was statistically insignificant. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 22-06-2019 Date of acceptance: 06-07-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health concern.[1] It is a single stranded ribonucleic acid virus and is the most common cause of post transfusion hepatitis.[2] It is estimated that 200 million people world-wide are infected with HCV.[3] HCV is gradually being recognized as a major health problem in developing countries.[4] World Health Organization estimates that there are 10-24 million HCV infected persons living in India.[5] The seroprevalence of HCV in apparently healthy people in India ranges from 1.5% to 4%.[6-9] The seroprevalence ranges from 3% to 12% in patients suspected of acute viral hepatitis.[8,10,11] Certain population groups such as injecting drug users, recipients of unscreened blood products, patients in hemodialysis centers, organ transplant patients and individuals with increased promiscuity tend to have a higher probability of HCV transmission.[4] About 75% of infections are sub clinical and are revealed incidentally by abnormal liver function test and/or seropositivity.[12] Hepatitis C although not as frequently encountered, has far greater implications for a patient once the patient is infected, as compared to Hepatitis A and B.[13] No undisputed case of HCV saliva transmission has been documented. However, the existence of other routes of transmission is possible. HCV-RNA has been detected in saliva and in salivary glands from patients with sialadenitis [14,15]. Most HCV patients (77%) had higher HCV RNA levels in their gingival sulcus than in their saliva [16,17] found HCV-RNA in a toothbrushes by hepatitis C patients. This fact could be a theoretical risk of infection by sharing these objects by their household members. Since dentists are often exposed to saliva and blood field, they are at a higher risk therefore knowledge about the prevalenceof Hepatitis C is crucial. Aim To know the prevalence of Hepatitis C among patients visiting Dental OPD at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna. II. Material and Methods A cross section study was carried out at the Department of Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna. The patients undergoing surgical extraction, fracture reduction, surgical excision of cysts or tumour or patients undergoiong any surgical procedure requiring blood investigation were included in the study. The patients were explained about the anonomous nature of the study conducted. The patients who agreed to be a part of the study were advised blood investigation inlcuding screening for Hepatitis C antigen. Patient who gave positive history of Hepatitis B were also included in the study after their consent.