Prevalence of hepatitis C virus in urban ghettos of twin cities

The present study was undertaken to identify the factors that are involved in the spread of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in the low socioeconomic regions of the "twin cities" (Rawalpindi and Islamabad) in Pakistan. For this purpose the presence of HCV RNA was analyzed in 503 blood samples collected at random along with the demographic data. The study revealed an unusually high prevalence of HCV RNA in Rawalpindi (17%) vs. Islamabad (4%). Factors considered to be higher risk for HCV spread did not appear as significant to explain this difference, including blood transfusion, therapeutic injections, dental, hospital, barber, and beauty salon visits, skin piercing, tattooing, and needle stick injuries. These data highlight the urgent need to understand other unknown risk factors operating in poor urban ghettos associated with HCV spread to slow down and/or prevent its epidemic spread worldwide.