Seroprevalance of patients suspected of hepatitis c virus in 2018: Sample of Malatya province

The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease. In this study, anti-HCV seroprevalence was investigated in samples sent to Malatya Turgut Özal University Medical Faculty Training and Research Hospital Microbiology laboratory in 2018 to be investigated for HCV infection. In this study, blood serum samples of 330 patients were investigated for the presence of anti-HCV to be evaluated for anti-HCV. In the obtained samples, serum anti-HCV was analyzed by chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay (Roche Modular Analytics, cobas 6000 analyzer (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany)). Viral nucleic acids were obtained from patient plasma samples using the QIAsymphony DSP Virus/Pathogen Midi Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden Germany) and the QIAsymphony SP/AS device (QIAGEN, Hilden Germany) in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. After this procedure, the PCR stage was performed with the Rotor-Gene Q (QIAGEN, Hilden Germany) device. A total of 36 patients, 15 (%41.7) female and 21 (%58.3) male, with positive anti-HCV values were identified and the anti-HCV seroprevalence value was found to be %10.90. As a result, HCV infection still poses serious problem on a global scale. A vaccine to prevent HCV infection has not yet been found. In order to prevent the spread of HCV infection, it is important to regularly conduct and monitor anti-HCV screenings of patients and people at risk.