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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Lab Physicians 2021; 13(03): 270-276
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1731110
Review Article

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Epidemiology of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Virus among Beta-Thalassemia Major Patients in Pakistan

Usman Waheed
1   Department of Pathology and Transfusion Medicine, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad, Pakistan
2   Islamabad Blood Transfusion Authority, Ministry of National Health Services, Islamabad, Pakistan
,
Noore Saba
3   Peshawar Regional Blood Centre, Department of Health, Peshawar, Pakistan
,
Akhlaaq Wazeer
4   Department of Biotechnology, Mirpur University of Science and Technology, Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan
5   Department of Pathology and Transfusion Medicine, Divisional Headquarters Teaching Hospital, Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan
,
Saeed Ahmed
6   Department of Blood Bank, Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract

Beta-thalassemia major patients are the leading consumers of blood transfusions in Pakistan and, therefore, have a greater risk of acquiring transfusion-transmitted infections, most notably hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV). The present study includes a comprehensive review on the status of HBV and HCV in beta-thalassemia major patients in Pakistan. For this purpose, we examined original articles assessing the epidemiology of HBV and HCV in transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients.

We searched 10 major subscription databases from January through February 2020, that is, Medline, PakMediNet, CINAHL, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Directory of Open Access Journals. The World Health Organization resources were also explored for relevant reports. The search criteria included published articles up to December 31, 2019, with no language restrictions. Articles identified were introduced into the Endnote version X9 software and then screened for relevance and duplication. The results were stated as the pooled prevalence for the overall study and also for region-wise subgroups.

A total of 33 studies conducted from 1995 to 2019 were included in the review. All 33 articles yielded information on HCV prevalence, while 19 of them provided information on HBV prevalence. The overall sample size was 8,554 that tested the prevalence of HCV in thalassemia patients. The sample size from the 19 studies that tested the prevalence of HBV was 6,184. The overall pooled prevalence of HBV was computed to be 4.13%, while the pooled prevalence of HCV was 29.79%. The majority of the studies were obtained from the Punjab Province (33.33%), followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (24.24%).

The total sample size of 33 studies was less than 10% of the total number of estimated thalassemic patients, that is, 100,000. Further studies or a national baseline survey are imperative to confirm the actual frequency of HBV and HCV in thalassemia patients across the country.

Keywords - thalassemia - hepatitis B - hepatitis C - epidemiology - Pakistan


Publication History

Article published online:
28 June 2021

© 2021. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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