Sannathimmappa Mohan B, Zehri Latifa, Al Zadjali Ayat A M, Albalushi Halima M A, Al Saadi Buthaina A A H, Aravindakshan Rajeev, Al-Risi Elham S, Al-Maqbali Saleema, Nambiar Vinod
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, National University of Science and Technology, Sohar Campus, Sultanate of Oman.
Department of Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh, India.
J Educ Health Promot. 2024 Jul 11;13:208. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_1326_23. eCollection 2024.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, predominantly transmitted by exposure to infected blood, remains one of the major public health problems worldwide. This study aims to identify the risk factors of HCV transmission and its chronic complications among the study group.
This retrospective study was approved by the Research and Ethical Review and Approve Committee (RERAC) of Oman and conducted at a secondary-care hospital situated in the North Batinah region of Oman. The study population included all HCV cases confirmed by positive serology and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction tests during their presence at the hospital between January 2017 and December 2022. The relevant data of the study population were retrieved from the hospital electronic health record system. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 26.0.
A total of 177 HCV confirmed cases were included in the study. HCV infection was predominant among males (74%) and individuals of the age group of 21-60 years (74.6%). Genotyping was possible only in 107 cases. Among HCV genotypes, genotype 3 (58.9%) was the most frequently identified, followed by genotype 1 (34.6%). Hemodialysis (21.5%), history of blood transfusion (16.4%), and injection drug use (11.9%) were the major risk factors for HCV infection, while cirrhosis (7.3%) and fatty liver disease (4%) were the most frequently observed chronic HCV complications. HCV infection in the spouse/partner (21.5%), alcohol use (7.3%), and co-infection with hepatitis B virus (2.3%) and human immunodeficiency virus (1.7%) were the other significant factors detected in our study population.
HCV is a multi-factorial disease leading to severe chronic complications, thus representing a public health threat. This clearly emphasizes the cruciality of HCV community awareness campaigns and enhancement of Omani national guidelines for early screening of high-risk groups as well as effective management of HCV-infected cases to reduce the substantial burden of the disease on patients as well as the healthcare system.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染主要通过接触受感染血液传播，仍是全球主要的公共卫生问题之一。本研究旨在确定研究组中HCV传播的危险因素及其慢性并发症。
本回顾性研究经阿曼研究与伦理审查及批准委员会（RERAC）批准，在阿曼北巴提奈地区的一家二级护理医院进行。研究人群包括2017年1月至2022年12月期间在该医院就诊时血清学和逆转录聚合酶链反应检测呈阳性确诊的所有HCV病例。研究人群的相关数据从医院电子健康记录系统中检索。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）26.0版对数据进行分析。
本研究共纳入177例HCV确诊病例。HCV感染在男性（74%）和21 - 60岁年龄组个体（74.6%）中占主导。仅107例病例可进行基因分型。在HCV基因型中，基因型3（58.9%）是最常鉴定出的，其次是基因型1（34.6%）。血液透析（21.5%）、输血史（16.4%）和注射吸毒（11.9%）是HCV感染的主要危险因素，而肝硬化（7.3%）和脂肪性肝病（4%）是最常观察到的慢性HCV并发症。配偶/伴侣中的HCV感染（21.5%）、饮酒（7.3%）以及与乙型肝炎病毒（2.3%）和人类免疫缺陷病毒（1.7%）的合并感染是在我们研究人群中检测到的其他重要因素。
HCV是一种导致严重慢性并发症的多因素疾病，因此构成公共卫生威胁。这清楚地强调了开展HCV社区宣传活动以及加强阿曼国家早期筛查高危人群指南以及有效管理HCV感染病例的重要性，以减轻该疾病对患者以及医疗系统的巨大负担。
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