Abstract
Hepatitis B is a severe health issue in both developed and developing countries that infects approximately 3.5 billion individuals globally. HBV infection is a more contagious disease than HCV and HIV infection. The current research work was conducted at D.H.Q hospital, Mardan Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa (KPK). Only HBsAg positive patients (n=750) were selected and for further confirmation of HBV DNA in all patients, Real Time PCR was performed. Out of a total of 750 patients, 34.6 % (n=260) patients were found to be HBV positive using Real Time PCR method. Prevalence of HBV DNA was high in male patients (p= 0.0151) as compared to female patients and also in patients of older age (>60 years). All patients were divided into three groups on the basis of viral load, that is, low viral load 100-10000 IU/ml, intermediate viral load 100,000-10,000,000 IU/ml, and high viral load >10,000,000 IU/ml. The study showed that 61.15% patients were placed in intermediate viral load category. All the HBV DNA positive patients were also screened for HBeAg and 31.53% were found reactive for HBeAg. This study provides a clear spectrum of molecular epidemiology of HBV in the Mardan region of KPK, Pakistan.
