Epidemiological and Genotypical Features of HCV in District Upper Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Objectives: Objective: The incidence of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is high in Pakistan. The current study evaluates HCV risk factors, epidemiology, and genotype distribution in the less- developed Upper Dir Region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan. Methods: Blood samples from 500 outpatients from the Upper Dir Region were collected for initial screening using a strip-based immunochromatography test (ICT). In this study, ICT analysis followed Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis for HCV-RNA confirmation. In addition, PCR positive samples were subject to genotypic description using genotype-specific primers. Results: ICT analysis revealed that out of 500 patients, 13 (2.6%) were HCV positive. PCR analysis identified that 10 (2.0%) of the 13 HCV-positive patients were HCV-RNA positive. The overall incidence of HCV in the study group was 2.6%. The rate of HCV incidence was found to be higher in males (10/339 participants, 3.0%), while a lower incidence was found in females (3 of 161 participants, 1.9%). The patients between 45 and 60 years had the highest incidence rate (6 of 53 participants, 11.3%, P<0.05); while the patients between 25 and 44 years had an incidence rate of 4.2% (7 of 166 participants). Different HCV subtypes were also detected; 1a (two participants), 2b (one participant), 3a (two participants) and 3b (two participants). Three of the patients had untypable (UT) HCV genotype variants. Conclusion: The study results suggest that; most of the cases were males and between 25 and 60- year-old. At the same time, several HCV subtypes are present in the inhabitants of the study area. Therefore, the presence of untypable genotypes may lead to diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties or failures. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2021; 11(4):217-223.