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Abstract

Hepatitis C Virus is an infectious entity mainly affects liver. The HCV belongs to family Flaviviridae of viruses. The virion has single stranded positive polarity RNA genome. It was identified in 1989. It is transmitted through transfusion of infected blood, homosexuality, vertical transmission, inadequately sterilized surgical or dental instruments. Different techniques for diagnosis of HCV are available like ICT, ELISA, MEIA and RT-PCR etc. The objective of this study was to find out the most sensitive and reliable method for diagnosis of HCV infection. The study was conducted at a Public Sector Hospital, Hayat Abad Medical Complex Hayat Abad, Peshawar. A total of 300 samples tested for anti HCV antibodies on ELISA, out of which 14 (4.66%) were found positive to anti-HCV antibodies. These positive cases were considered for HCV genome detection using RT-PCR. The results showed that 05 (1.66%) samples are positive for HCV RNA while 09 were found negative. It is determined that RT-PCR technique can be used for the detection of Hepatitis C Virus because it is quick and reliable.
Keywords: Hepatitis C virus; OD value; Ct cycle; False positive; Correlation
http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2016.50087