In patients diagnosed with COVID-19 hepatitis b and hepatitis C evaluation of seroprevalence

Objective: Although the pathogenesis of liver injury in COVID-19 patients is not fully known, it is presumed to be possibly multifactorial. The most common cause of chronic liver disease in our country is chronic viral hepatitis due to hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and to compare them with sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: This descriptive,cross-sectional study was conducted with 1026 patients with positive PCR test who applied to the university hospital COVID outpatient clinic between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. The case information form applied to the patients included socio-demographic characteristics, jaundice risk factors, admission complaint, and Thorax CT result. In addition, AST, ALT, GGT, Total Bilirubin, Direct Bilirubin, Indirect Bilirubin, Hemogram, HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc IgG, anti-HCV levels were studied. Descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were used for data analysis. SPSS 20 program was used for statistical analysis and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean age of the participants was 45.11±16.12; 53.6% (n=550) were women; 30.0% (n=308) were high school graduates; 25.7% (n=264) are housewives. The most common complaints were cough in 39.9% (n=409), fatigue 34.3% (n=352) and fever 26.1% (n=267) in the patients who applied, respectively. HBsAg seroprevalence of the participants was 1.4% (n=14/1026); AntiHbs seroprevalence 48.5% (n=498/1026); AntiHbc IgG seroprevalence 18.2% (n=187/1026); Anti-HCV seroprevalence was 0.5% (n=5/1026). When the hepatitis serology results of the patients were compared according to gender, AntiHbs result negativity in women was found to be higher than in men (p=0.034). Of the COVID-19 patients who participated in our study, 13.5% had WBC, 21.0% had AST, 9.5% had NEU, 12.6% had ALT, 7.1% had GGT and 2.9% had Total Bilirubin levels that was found to be high . 57.0% of patients had high CRP levels (n=700) and 52.5% had high Ferritin levels (n=421). LY in 23.7%, HGB in 51.8%, and PLT in 10.7% of patients was found to be low. The CT finding was positive in 60.5% (n=310/512) of the patients who underwent thorax CT. Conclusion: Despite advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment conditions, and advances in community vaccination, COVID-19 continues to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Keywords: COVID-19, Seroprevalence, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C